


Infiltration

by MissErikaCourt



Series: The Wars to Come [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Major Character Injury, Manga Spoilers, Spies, Torture, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-04 00:11:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12157641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissErikaCourt/pseuds/MissErikaCourt
Summary: Eren, Mikasa, and Levi are sent deep undercover into Marley where Mikasa and Levi have to charade as a couple to keep their identities hidden.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing around with different ships recently, and while I know Levi x Mikasa is kind of a controversial one, I've really enjoyed writing this fic. I'm not exactly sure how long it will be yet, but I hope you all enjoy!

It had been hard getting into Marley, but they'd successfully done it, at the cost of four years of their time. Eren had snuck into the ranks of their soldiers, but Levi and Mikasa had to blend in with the commoners. It had all been Armin's idea, to send the three of them in undercover. None of them knew if it would work, and Levi was still having doubts. It had been a long time since they'd heard from Eren, but Mikasa had refused to give up hope. She might have been stuck playing house with Levi, but she wasn't about to leave Eren behind.

The last time they'd heard from Eren was a year ago, but he'd said that he had successfully infiltrated and would have to be deployed with the military. Levi had his doubts as to whether Eren could successfully deceive the Marleyan's, but it seemed that it was working so far. At least it was when they'd last heard from him. Now Levi wasn't sure if Eren was even still alive, although Mikasa begged to differ. She said she knew that he was still alive, that she could feel it, but that was something else Levi had his doubts about.

“I'm going out.” He said, the staleness of the small house they'd been living in was getting to him today. He pulled on the cuff that they were forced to wear on their arms when they went out and about. He hated it. It was like being trapped in the underground city all over again. Being a prisoner of the government had never been something he was keen on.

“Don't be too long.” Mikasa said, although he was sure she didn't mean it. It seemed that she had come to resent him in the time they'd spent living together. They'd had to pretend that they were a couple for the sake of the mission, and it was more than a bit awkward, even disregarding the feelings that Levi knew Mikasa harbored for Eren. He only nodded at her statement and headed out the door. They didn't have a clear way of communicating with Eren, they just kind of waited around for him to reach out in whatever way he could. The last time they'd found a note pushed under their door after coming home one day from work. The uncertainty of the whole mission rubbed Levi the wrong way.

He'd decided he would go to the post office today. He wasn't expecting to find anything there, other than bills for the unfair taxes that were forced on the Eldians that the Marleyan government kept locked away in their concentration camps. They were given jobs to earn a wage, but it was hardly liveable. Mikasa and Levi were lucky to buy food with the money they made doing their petty little jobs three times a week, much less pay the dues the government imposed on them. And he had thought living inside the walls or under the city was bad. He had no idea how bad it could truly get until he got here.

They assumed different names when they arrived in Marley, Mikasa had assumed the name Minako while he had taken Kaito, and they shared a last name or Arakawa. It was enough to fool the general population, but if Levi ever ran into the Beast Titan in person he had no doubt that he would be recognized. He tried to push his nervous thoughts aside as he made his way through the streets. People bustled through the small camp, doing what they needed for their families, but he just walked silently to his destination, trying to be hopeful about when their mission would be over. When he reached the post office he was greeted by the man behind the counter.

“Mr. Arakawa, nice to see you.” He said with a smile. Levi tried his best to act jovial.

“Yeah, same to you.” He answered, his expression unchanging. “Any mail today?”

“Uh, yes, as a matter of fact. A letter. Doesn't say who it's from.” The man handed the letter over to Levi and he recognized the messy handwriting as soon as he saw it. It was from Eren.

“Thanks.” He said before hurrying out the door and back toward the house. He knew that Mikasa would be overjoyed to see a letter from Eren, and for some reason that made _him_ happy as well. He really didn't like seeing any of his troops upset, but when Mikasa was suffering it got to him a bit more. He didn't say anything when he entered the house, he just put the letter down on the table in front of her. She hadn't moved since he left, but when she saw the writing on the envelope her eyes went wide.

“It's from him.” She said in almost a whisper. “What does it say?”

“I haven't opened it. I was waiting to get back here.” He said, pulling a chair up beside her and retrieving the letter opener from a drawer in the kitchen. He cut the envelop open carefully, then slid out the piece of paper that it contained. Mikasa scooted closer to him in order to read the letter at the same time he did.

 

_My dearest family,_

_I had hoped to get you this letter sooner, I'm sure you're all worried about my well being. I want to let you know that I am fine, although I was injured during our mission, and I'm being cared for by the best doctors here at the hospital. I've made a friend of one of the younger warriors. He hopes to be picked to inherit the armored titan in the place of Gabi, a young girl that I believe he might love, and a much stronger warrior than him, if I'm to believe what he tells me. He is strong, though, and I don't believe he gives himself enough credit. He also mentioned the current holder of the armored titan, Reiner. Falco is worried about Reiner, and looks up to him as a role model and older brother. He's afraid that Reiner is losing his warrior's spirit, that he's fallen into depression. What an honor it is for me to know Falco. He is an upstanding young boy who only wants the best for his friends, and his country. I wish the best for him. As for me, I will probably be here a bit longer, as my injuries are still too severe to leave just yet. I hope to get to know more of the young warriors during my time here. Please don't worry about me, I'm doing just fine. I hope to be home soon._

_Yours, Eren Kruger_

 

“So he's gaining intel. That's good. At least this mission hasn't been for nothing.” Levi said with a sigh as he set the letter down on the table. He fiddled with the letter opener as he thought about everything Eren had said in his letter. He'd learned the identity of two of the next generation of warriors, that was good, they could use that to their advantage.

“How will we get this information back to Armin?” Mikasa asked, taking the letter in her own hands and tracing over the writing on the page with her fingers.

“For now we'll just have to sit on it. We can't leave without Eren and I doubt the postal service delivers mail outside of Marley. There's a reason they sent us with him, you know, it's because Armin believes that we're the strongest, and he trusts that we can act rationally of our own free will.”

“How much longer do you think we'll have to do this?” She asked as she folded the note and tucked it away in her pocket.

“As long as it takes to get the information we need and get out.” He answered, noticing the sad expression she wore. “I know you're worried about him.”

“Of course I am. He can't do this kind of thing on his own.” She turned her face away from him, but he knew it was because of the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. He stood abruptly, walking to the cabinet and digging around for a moment before pulling out a bottle of whiskey.

“I managed to get this from a vendor while they weren't watching. I never would have had enough money to buy it otherwise. Anyway, do you want some?” He asked, putting the bottle on the table before walking back to retrieve glasses.

“Yes.” She said without hesitation. Maybe she thought that she might be able to suppress her feelings more if she drank with him, or maybe she just wanted to numb the pain, but he didn't ask questions. He poured two glasses of whiskey and handed one to her before leaning against the table next to her.

“I know you're worried about him, I am too.” He said, trying his best to console her.

“Eren has always been so careless. I just don't want him to lose his temper or do something stupid that will reveal who he is.”

“He's matured a lot since our fight with Bertholt and Reiner in Shiganshina. I know you've noticed it too. It's like a little bit of that light that always shines in his eyes was snuffed out when that mission was over.” He sipped his drink, knowing that what he'd said probably didn't help ease Mikasa's troubled mind.

“I've noticed it.” She answered, looking at her cup before downing all of the liquid it contained. She sat it on the table and he poured more for her.

“It's good and bad, what's happened to him. I agree that he acted carelessly before, but now it seems that everything he does is very calculated. He reminds me of someone.” Levi said before downing his drink. In truth, Eren had started to remind him of himself at a younger age. Full of melancholy and regret for past events. He poured himself another glass.

“He's not the same.” She drained her glass before she put it on the table again, looking to Levi to pour more for her. He locked eyes with her for a moment, contemplating whether he should let her continue or not, in the end he decided that she probably needed to unwind a bit more and poured another glass for her.

“You're right, but I don't think any of us are the same now as we were when this started. People have to be allowed to grow and change throughout life, otherwise they would never learn.”

“Levi, do you think this is all worth it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think what we're doing will make a difference?” She didn't look at him when she asked, she just traced the rim of her glass slowly as she spoke.

“I believe it will.” He answered, taking another sip of his drink. He wasn't sure if he believed what he'd just said or not. He hoped that it would make a difference, but it seemed like, recently, they'd been losing more than winning.

“How do you stay optimistic about this? You've been in the Survey Corps for a long time, how has it not just worn you down?”

“I joined the Corps, originally, because Erwin blackmailed me into it. I didn't understand what it stood for then. I didn’t understand that they were making strides toward figuring out what exactly had turned our world into the shit storm that it is now, so I felt much the same way you probably do now. After all, on my very first expedition, my first time even above the ground, my two only friends died outside the wall. I thought that it was all pointless then. That Erwin was just leading soldiers to their deaths without a care in the world. It took me a long time to realize that what he was doing was making everyone's lives better. Sacrificing the few for the thousands that live in our society. And look how far we've come because of all those sacrifices.” He downed the rest of his drink before sitting down in the chair next to her and pouring himself another. “I'm optimistic about it to this day because I don't feel like all of those sacrifices were for nothing. We've found the people responsible for what our lives were back home. We've found them and we're working on a way to destroy them. If that's not progress I don't know what is.”

“You're right. If we stop now, all of that would have been for nothing. The deaths of all your friends, and my comrades, Eren's mother...” She trailed off, then downed her drink, taking a deep breath before leaning back in her chair. It was the most relaxed he could ever remember seeing her.

“It seems that you've found your reason to fight again.” He said, watching her closely. He could tell that the three reasonably sized glasses of whiskey were starting to get to her. He wasn't even sure if she'd ever had a drink before now. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes looked a bit glassy as she looked at him.

“My reason to fight has always been Eren. That will never change. I guess I just see the reason for sending him into enemy territory now.”

“The alcohol has opened your eyes, then.” He laughed a little at the statement before pouring himself another glass. They'd already gone through half of the bottle, but he had the feeling it would all be gone before the night was over.

“Thank you, Levi.”

“For what?” He eyed her suspiciously. She'd never thanked him for anything, in fact he was almost sure that she hated him, although he was unclear on why.

“This. It's nice being able to talk to someone. I guess I've kind of felt like a prisoner since we got here. I don't know how these people stand it.”

“They don't have a choice. That feeling of being a prisoner isn't by accident. Everyone here knows that they can't leave, and yet they try to be happy anyway.”

“It reminds me of being back home.” Levi looked at her with a puzzled expression. “The feeling of being trapped inside a cage. The walls were our cage there. The fence around this slum is our cage here.”

“We won't stay here forever. I have the feeling we'll be leaving soon.”

“I hope you're right.” She downed her next drink and pushed herself out of her chair to find her legs unsteady. She toppled over into his lap, her face turning bright red as she scrambled to get up. “S-sorry. I'll be right back.”

“Mikasa.” Levi yelled after her, but she'd already retreated into the bedroom that they were forced to share for the sake of their back story as Eldians. He breathed a deep sigh before he took another sip and decided to go after her. There was no need for her to feel bad about falling on him. It's just something that happens when you get drunk, and she wasn't used to the state of mind. He pushed himself from the table and opened the door to the bedroom, then froze as he looked in on her. She'd been changing her clothes and had stripped down to nothing but her underwear. Her eyes went wide as she covered her exposed skin and he averted his eyes, although in his inebriated state he did let them linger on her for a moment.

“Sorry.” He said quickly, turning so that he faced the kitchen instead of the interior of the room. “I didn't know you were changing.”

“It's okay.” She said, pulling a too large shirt over her head. It was big enough for her to wear as a dress, and that's what she did. He had learned that she preferred to sleep in those kinds of clothes in the time they'd spent living together here. She walked to the door and pushed past him, her body barely brushing against him as she navigated between the open door and his body to make her way back to the kitchen table. “Let's keep drinking. I'm having fun. I don't remember the last time I could even say that.”

“Okay.” He agreed, pushing the embarrassment of what had just happened to the back of his mind to join her at the table. He picked up his glass and downed the rest of it so that he could pour two more for them.

“Aren't there games that you can play when you drink?” She asked, looking up at him.

“Yes.” He answered. “But I don't know many of them.”

“What's one that you do know?”

“Two truths and a lie.”

“Let's play that one then.”

“Okay.” He smiled briefly, turning his chair so that he faced her more directly. She did the same. “The way it works is that I'll tell you two truths and a lie and you have to guess which is the lie.”

“Sounds easy.”

“If you're wrong, you drink, if you're right I drink.”

“Fine. You go first.”

“My mother died when I was young. I've never had a romantic relationship. I didn't actually teach myself how to use 3DM gear.”

“You've never had a romantic relationship. That's the lie.” She said matter-of-factly, pushing his glass toward his hand.

“Drink.” He said with a smirk.

“You're kidding.”

“I'm afraid not.”

“How old are you again?” She asked as she picked up her glass.

“Listen you damn brat, it's hard to have a romantic relationship with anyone when you're humanity's strongest soldier and have to fight titans every day of your life.”

“Okay, okay. It's just surprising, that's all. With the way that women talk about you I'm surprised you haven't found at least a little time.” She snickered before taking a drink and enjoying the look of bewilderment on his face at what she'd just said.

“What do you mean 'the way women talk about me'?” He asked, but she ignored him.

“My turn. When I was young, Eren and I successfully killed three men that killed my family. My first kiss was with Eren. I actually enjoy your company.” She smiled with the last option as she waited for his response, but she didn't have to wait long.

“Your first kiss was with Eren. You've never been kissed, much less by him. He's oblivious.” Levi smirked as he watched her.

“I thought for sure you would say that my enjoying your company was the lie.” She said as she took a drink.

“You said you were having fun.” He shot back.

“How do you know that I've never kissed anyone?”

“You're in love with Eren, and I know he hasn't kissed you. Why would you kiss anyone else if you're so infatuated with him?”

“Fair point...” She said. “Your turn again.”

“My mother was a prostitute in the underground city. Erwin was a better fighter than me. I've never kissed anyone, either.”

“This is a tough one. Just because you've never been in a relationship doesn't necessarily mean you've never kissed anyone, but I don't think Erwin was a better fighter than you, either. I'm not sure if that one even counts considering that might be a matter of personal opinion.”

“Go with your gut instinct.”

“You've never kissed anyone.”

“Wrong. Drink.” He laughed.

“You misled me on purpose!” She looked mildly angry before she took a drink.

“That's not against the rules.”

“So then who did you kiss?”

“That's not part of the game.” He answered.

“Then how do I know you're not lying just to get me drunk?”

“You're already doing a good job of that on your own, you don't need me to help you.”

“Why won't you tell me then? Don't want me to know about your past love life?” She smirked as she leaned her head in her hand, staring at him intently.

“It was Petra.” He answered, looking down for a moment. He hadn't wanted to think about her. He missed her too much and it would just bring down the mood, but Mikasa was too persistent and he just wanted her to stop asking.

“Oh.” Mikasa said, though she didn't seem surprised. “Let's play a different game now.”

“I told you, I only know this one.”

“What about truth or dare?”

“How could you possibly turn that into a drinking game?”

“If you chicken out of a dare you have to drink. If you say 'truth' and either of us think the other is lying you have to drink. If you refuse to answer you have to drink. Sound fair?”

“Sure. I guess that will work.”

“Good. Don't be a wimp and pick truth every time.” Mikasa said. “Levi, truth or dare?”

“Dare.” He said right off the bat, looking bored with the game already.

“Teach me how to kiss.”

“What?” He asked, taken aback by the request.

“Teach me how to kiss. I wanna know.”

“You're drunk.” He said, brushing off her request.

“I told you not to be a wimp. You can't chicken out of the first dare you get.”

“Mikasa, don't you think someone else might be more suitable to teach you to do this?”

“I can't believe you're going to chicken out already.” She laughed, leaning back in her chair.

“I just think that maybe I'm not the best person to teach you this kind of thing.” He said, feeling his face turn hot as he spoke.

“Oh my god, you're embarrassed.” She threw her head back in a fit of laughter before she heard his chair move against the floor and before she knew it he had cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips firmly to hers. She inhaled sharply, then leaned into the kiss as she reached up to tangle her hands in his hair. They broke away, both breathless, and stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Levi returned to his seat, crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair.

“Now who's embarrassed?” He asked, taking a drink. She blinked at him before she did the same. “Learn anything?”

“I learned that I really liked the way you touched my face when you did that.” She answered somewhat sheepishly.

“Well now you know at least something that you like. Anyway, truth or dare?” He asked, trying to move past what had just happened. They were both still more than a little flustered, but they got back into the groove of their game quickly.

“Truth.”

“And you gave me shit for not wanting to do the dare that you gave me. Are you afraid of what I would ask you to do? And that's not the question I'm asking you for the game, by the way.”

“No, I just need a breather after that.” She answered, fanning herself with her hand. “What's the question then?”

“Did you like what just happened between us?”

“Yes, actually.” She answered.

“I call bullshit. Drink.” He said, nodding toward her glass.

“How can you call bullshit? Look at me!” She said. He looked her over then and saw what she meant. Her face was burning bright red and her breathing was unsteady.

“Prove it.” He said. He wasn't sure if it was just the alcohol getting to him or if it was something else, but he had truly enjoyed the kiss that they shared. He hadn't wanted to stop, but for the sake of the game he pulled away.

“How?”

“Kiss me again.” he urged. He saw her hesitation but she pushed herself from her chair anyway, moving slowly toward him. Deep down he felt like what they were doing was wrong. He knew that they must be distantly related somehow, not to mention that he was old enough to be her father, but it didn't seem important at the moment. The only important thing right now was that Mikasa was uncrossing his legs and moving to straddle him, sitting on his lap facing him directly. He looked into her eyes, trying desperately not to let her know what feelings were dancing around in his head. She put her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. It was gentle at first, but when he put his hands on her hips the intensity of their kiss grew. Her back arched as his hands moved up and down her sides, and her chest pressed against his as he felt her tongue brush against his lips. He hadn't really planned on becoming this intimate with her, but he didn't want it to stop. He opened his mouth and let her do what she wanted, but broke the kiss shortly after. She rested her forehead against his, staring into his eyes as her chest heaved wit her heavy breathing.

“Do you believe me now?” She asked, lust reflected in her eyes.

“Yes.” He answered in a breathy voice. “You learn quickly, too.”

“I have a good teacher.” She said before she removed herself from his lap. She stumbled and laughed as she fell to the floor.

“I think you've had enough.” He said, pushing himself from his chair to stumble and almost fall next to her. It had been a while since he'd had that much to drink and it was getting to him. This, of course, only made Mikasa laugh harder, and he couldn't help but laugh as well. “Come on, you need to get to bed.”

“Only if you come with me.” She said, reaching out her hand. He took it and pulled her up, but she wasn't able to stand on her own. He decided that picking her up would be the best option and she shrieked a little as he swept her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom.

“I don't think me staying in here with you is the best idea right now.” He said as he laid her down on the bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck again, refusing to let him leave.

“Please, Levi, stay with me. You've never slept in this bed once with me.” She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip to look sadder.

“Fine.” He said, crawling into the bed beside her. He laid down and his world spun for a moment before it stabilized itself again. Mikasa snuggled up to his side and sighed contentedly.

“I wonder if this is what it's like, to be in a relationship.” She said, her fingers tracing circles on his chest as she spoke.

“I wouldn't know.” He answered.

“We're supposed to be pretending that we're married and neither of us know what a relationship is like. Whose idea was this?” Mikasa giggled as she cuddled closer to him, intertwining her legs with his.

“I'm glad that the plan worked out the way it did.” His head was swimming now. He wasn't even sure if he was making sense any more.

“Why's that?” She asked, yawning.

“I'm glad that I've gotten to spend this time with you. It's been...fun. I don't even remember the last time I could say that I had fun.”

“Thank you for teaching me how to kiss.” She said, moving herself up to kiss his cheek before settling her head back on his chest again. “Maybe you can teach me how to do something else tomorrow.”

“What?” He asked, wondering if he was reading too much into what she'd just said, but he didn't get an answer. Her breathing had already changed, she was asleep. He laid there with her sleeping on his chest for a long time before he passed out from the alcohol that was working its way through his veins.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little more of the same thing that happened in chapter one, but just remember that Levi is always clumsy in romantic situations. He needs alcohol to feel confident enough to be romantic with her.

It had been two weeks since their drunken night together and neither of them had really felt comfortable enough to talk about it. Their lives went on the same way they had for the four years they'd already been there. Every other day they went to work and came back and spent awkward silences around the kitchen table as they both silently remembered that night. Levi didn't know what he'd been thinking. Maybe he was lonely or maybe he just wanted to make her feel better about her situation, regardless it had been wrong of him to impose himself on her like that. He toyed with his food as he thought about everything that had happened, wondering if she was thinking about the same thing. He was about to speak up when she slammed her fist against the table.

“I can't go on not talking about this.” She said, pushing herself to her feet violently. “I can't fucking get you out of my head since that night. You're all I think about. I can't even...I can't even remember what Eren looks like. I close my eyes and see you before I go to sleep. I _dream_ about you, Levi.”

Her sudden outburst caught him off guard. He dropped his fork onto his plate as he looked at her. He wasn't really sure what to say, but he knew she wanted to hear something. In truth, he couldn't stop thinking about her either, the way her body had felt that night pressed up against him as they slept. He dreamt about it too, when he could find sleep, that is.

“Don't you haven anything to say? I...” She stopped, looking around the room as if she were looking for a place to hide. She closed her eyes and continued. “I think I love you.”

Again, he didn't know what to say. She'd just admitted her love for him, something that he had never intended on earning. And it all stemmed from a stupid game of two truths and a lie.

“Say _something_ Levi. Anything.” She pleaded. He knew it had been hard for her to admit what she'd just said to him, but that didn't make it any easier for him to respond.

“I...” He started, trying to find the words to convey what he was feeling. “I don't know exactly how I feel...but I can't stop thinking about you either. Mikasa, don't you think this is _wrong?_ I mean...I'm old enough to be your father. Plus the fact that we belong to the same family. I just...I don't know what the right thing to do is here.”

“That didn't stop you that night.” She snapped back at him, tears welling in her eyes.

“I was drunk that night, and so were you.”

“That doesn't change the way it made me feel. I never thought I would love anyone but Eren, ever since he and his father rescued me that day. But...I'm starting to think that, maybe, I only felt that way toward him _because_ he saved my life. Even then, I ended up saving him in the end, just like always.”

“You can't be saying that you just don't care for Eren any more.” He looked at her inquisitively as he spoke.

“Of course I still care for him. I'll always love Eren, there's no denying that. I just don't think I'm _in_ love with him anymore. He'll always be someone I care for, you've just opened my eyes to something different. Levi, you're someone that I don't have to constantly worry about. You're strong, even stronger than me. It just feels more natural with you.”

“So you're choosing me because I'm the easier choice.” He asked, with a sarcastic tone.

“No!” She said quickly, moving toward him. She reached out for his hand and he let her take it, pulling him up from his seat. “No, I'm choosing you because you make me feel...I don't know, I can't explain it. Alive? Like I don't have to be there to keep you alive all the time? I don't know, I just know it feels right.”

“Don't you think that people would frown upon a relationship between the two of us?” He asked. He was desperately looking for some reason that made sense as to why they shouldn't be together, but she just kept proving him wrong.

“I don't care what other people think. People always thought that I was too strong to be with Eren, that he was holding me back. And we were never even together, because he doesn't look at me like that, but you do, don't you?”

“I shouldn't...”

“But you do, or you would say differently.”

“This was supposed to be a mission! I was never supposed to fall in love with you!”

“I don't know for sure, but I don't think that's really how love is supposed to work. You don't get to pick who you fall in love with.” She moved closer to him, lacing her fingers through his and letting their hands drop to the side. She gazed at him so lovingly that he couldn't help himself any longer. His free hand rose to her cheek and cupped her face lightly. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand as he kissed her softly.

“What have I gotten myself into?” He asked quietly after he broke away, resting his forehead against hers as he looked into her eyes.

“Hopefully something that will make both of us happy.” She answered. “Now finish your dinner, I wanna go for a walk.”

“No, it's too risky. There's a curfew and we still need to be careful. I'll agree to this, but on my terms. We still have a mission to carry out.” Levi argued.

“Fine, but we're finishing that whiskey tonight if we're not going for a walk.” She smiled as she took her plate to the sink and dug the bottle out of the cabinet. She set two glasses on the table and filled them. “Are you done with your dinner?”

“Yeah.” He answered, taking the glass and letting her remove the plate from the table. “You're not just trying to get me drunk so that we'll have a repeat of the events of last time are you?”

“Maybe so, or maybe I'm trying to see if anything different will happen.” She grabbed the bottle and her glass then and made her way toward the bedroom. He raised an eyebrow, but followed her all the same.

“So then you're trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me?”

“It's not taking advantage if both participants are willing.” She said, putting the bottle and her glass on the bedside table and walking to the small armoire that sat in the corner of the room. She dug around inside for a moment before she found one of the long shirts she wore to bed and proceeded to undress right in front of him. Her back was turned to him, so nothing really got revealed, but even the sight of her bare back piqued his interest. He watched her as she put the long shirt on and made her way back over to him, placing her hand on his chest. She poured a drink for him and then put the bottle back on the bedside table. He could feel the sexual tension mounting with every passing second.

“Mikasa, can I ask you something?” He asked moving to the bed and sitting down with his glass in hand.

“What?”

“Do you feel guilty about this?”

“Guilty?” She asked, her brow furrowing. “Why would I feel guilty?”

“Don't you think that Eren might be hurt?”

“Eren won't even notice a difference.” She said, turning her head away from him for a moment. “I don't want to talk about Eren. I already told you how I feel regarding him. Of course I love him, but with you I can have that love returned. That's all I've ever wanted...just to feel loved.”

“Okay. We won't talk about Eren anymore. Let's get wasted.” He said, downing his drink in one go and crawling across the bed to pour himself another. Mikasa giggled a bit at the sight of him scrambling across the bed for the bottle, and smiled as he looked up at her. “You're already behind. Drink.”

“Fine.” She said, holding out her glass for him to fill it and tossing her drink back immediately. She held it out for a refill again. He did so happily and then patted the bed beside him in an invitation for her to sit with him.

“Do we have to play another game to get drunk or can we just drink this time?”

“I like learning about your past. Those games were a good way to do that.”

“I'll tell you about my past without playing a game. All you have to do is ask.” He said, putting an arm around her shoulders as he sipped at his drink. “What do you want to know?”

“What were your friends like? The ones from underground.” She asked, staring into her cup and then cautiously looking up at him.

“Isabel was a stupid kid, but she was like a little sister to me. She almost got herself killed because she tried to climb the stairs to the surface to set a bird free.” He laughed as he recalled the day he'd met her.

“What did she look like?”

“She had fiery red hair and blue eyes, and she was always full of energy, and always happy. No matter what situation we found ourselves in she was _always_ happy.” He took another drink as he remembered her, a sadness that he hadn't felt in a long time creeping into his bones.

“What about the other one? You said there were two friends that came with you, right?”

“Right. Farlan. He was smart, and quick on his feet. He always had a plan to get out of whatever trouble he found himself in. We'd been friends since Kenny left me. They both died the first time we went outside the walls because I left them. I begged them not to go on that expedition.”

“Why did you leave them?” Mikasa asked, looking at him. He looked back, wondering if he should tell her the real reason he'd left his friends. Would he even be able to lie to her, though? He was almost sure she would know if he did.

“The reason we even got to leave the underground is because we were given a job by one of the nobleman on the surface. He told us that, if we carried out his job, he would give us citizenship and we would never have to go back underground again.”

“What was the job?”

“He wanted us to kill Erwin.”

“So you left them while you were on the expedition because you were going to go try to do the job.”

“Yeah. Obviously I didn't succeed, and because I left them, they died. A titan blindsided the whole wing of the formation that they were in. The rain was too heavy...they couldn't see it...and it killed all of them.”

“I'm so sorry, Levi. You didn't have to tell me about all that. I'm sure it's painful for you.”

“It's okay.” He took a drink of his whiskey and leaned back against the headboard. “I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn't regret that, or anything else that might happen.”

“I guess that's a good way to do the kind of job that we do.”

“Yeah.” Levi downed his drink and poured another and side eyed Mikasa until she drank hers too, then refilled the glass.

“What, now I have to finish my drink whenever you do?”

“It's a new rule.” He said with a smirk. She leaned against his shoulder then, sighing as she did so. “Something wrong?”

“No. For once, no, there's nothing wrong. I mean, I'm still worried about Eren, and if he's okay, but right now in this very moment I'm actually really happy.”

“Good.” He said, leaning over and kissing her forehead. “I changed my mind, I want to play the drinking games again. Our own topics of conversation are too depressing.”

“Fine, which one do you want to play?”

“Let's do truth or dare again.” He suggested.

“Fine, but I'm going first.” Mikasa said, moving to put down her glass.

“Truth or dare?” Levi asked.

“Dare.”

“I dare you to...” He looked around as if he were trying to think of something to dare her to do, but he really knew exactly what he was going to say. “pick a part of me to lick.”

“What?” She giggled, giving him a strange look.

“Doesn't matter where. I want you to pick a part of my body and lick it.”

“That's a weird dare. Not hard to do either.” She said, taking one more drink before putting her glass back down and crawling onto the bed. She crawled up toward him until she had positioned herself over him, then lifted his shirt and licked up his stomach. He shivered as she did it and watched her the whole time, all the while she maintained eye contact with him.

“You don't have to drink if you do it, you know.” He said as she moved back to her position at his side.

“Yeah, but I'm trying to get drunk. Your dare was too easy.” She laughed and took another drink before she spoke again. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Now you're just trying to show off.”

“I can't let you show me up.” He smirked.

“Fine. I dare you to do ten push ups with me sitting on your back, and if you can't do them you have to finish your drink.”

“You think that I can't do that?” He laughed.

“Assume the position, then, and we'll find out.”

Levi got off the bed and positioned himself on the floor, allowing Mikasa to climb on his back and sit there indian style. He looked back at her and smirked before he did the first pushup.

“That's one, you're not getting tired already are you?” Mikasa asked with a smile.

“Not even close.” He answered with a small grunt as he did two more.

“Oh, impressive.”

“Shut it, brat.” He said, doing two more push ups.

“Your arms are starting to shake. Are you sure you're strong enough?”

“This is too easy.” He said, knocking three more push ups out of the way. He did the final two before she could heckle him any more, then dumped her off of his back and rolled over to stare at the ceiling. He was breathing heavily now from the strain of the mini workout, but it really was quite easy for him. She moved over him and her hair dangled in his face as she kissed him gently.

“You did it. I didn't think you could.”

“You were heavier than I thought you would be.” He said with a smirk. She smacked him playfully and returned to the bed, taking a drink.

“I didn't expect to have to drink after that one, but you proved me wrong.”

“That one was boring.” He said, sitting back on the bed.

“Then you'd better come up with a better one for me.”

“Fine. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“If you could do anything with me right now, what would you do?” he asked, taking a drink when he finished talking. He stared at her intently, keeping eye contact as she thought of an answer.

“Well, I did like kissing you. I haven't had practice doing that for a while.” She said, her face flushing a bit as she spoke. He thought it was cute that she was embarrassed about it.

“Then I dare you to do it.” He said, downing the rest of his drink. She did the same and then he took both of their glasses to set them on the table.

“I'm not sure that's how the game works, Levi.” She said with a smile.

“That's how it works tonight. Are you gonna chicken out of your dare?”

“Never.” She said before she leaned forward and kissed him. He crawled over her, positioning himself between her legs as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She flipped him so that she straddled his hips before she continued. His hands found their way to her hips as hers worked their way to his neck, lightly squeezing, just enough to make him a little breathless. His hands found their way up her shirt, grazing her stomach and working further and further up. She gasped as his fingers made contact with her breasts and the sound of her breathlessness made him groan.

“Mikasa, are you okay with this?” He asked, breaking their kiss and looking up to see lust dancing in her dark eyes.

“Yes.” She breathed, and began to kiss down his neck while her hands worked at the buttons on his shirt. He watched as she made quick work of the buttons, revealing his amazing physique. Her hands trailed down his chest, moving over his pronounced muscles before they landed on the button of his pants. “But how about we got a little bit further.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings in this chapter for mentions of suicide. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far!

They'd finished off the bottle before passing out in each other's arms after a rather fun last round of truth or dare the night before, and Levi's head was splitting when he woke up. He looked over at Mikasa to see that she was still peacefully sleeping and he realized that he might be getting too old to keep up when they drink together. He rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants before walking to the bathroom, he felt too hot to opt to put on a shirt at the moment. He looked absolutely horrible as he stared at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and there were huge bags under his eyes, but that was to be expected after a long night of drinking. He was suddenly glad that he had gotten to the bathroom as he fell to his knees by the toilet to vomit whatever was left in his stomach from the night before. He had just finished when he heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Mikasa entering the room wearing only his shirt.

“Are you okay?” She asked, a concerned expression on her face.

“Just a hangover, I'll be fine.” He assured her as he felt another wave of nausea hit him.

“I'll get you some water.” She said, retreating from the room. She came back a few moments later and handed him a glass of water.

“Thank you.” He said, downing almost the whole thing and then leaning back against the cold, tile wall.

“I guess that walk that we talked about last night is a no go, then?”

“Maybe later. I just need a little time to recover.”

“I guess you just can't drink like you use to, huh old man?” She laughed before she could finish her sentence.

“Ha ha, very funny. You can't tell me you don't at least feel a little sick.”

“I feel completely fine. I guess I can just handle my alcohol better than you can.”

“You didn't drink as much as I did.” He scowled, feeling a bit inadequate.

“It's okay, I still love you even though you can't hold your booze.”

“I guess I love you, too.” He said begrudgingly before they heard a knock at the front door.

“I wonder who that could be.” Mikasa said as she got up quickly. “Can you get the door? I need to put on some clothes.”

“Yeah, I've got it.” He said, pushing himself to his feet and walking toward the front door. Mikasa was at his side again before he opened it, but neither of them were expecting to see who was on the other side.

“Eren...” Mikasa said as Levi pulled the door open to reveal Eren standing in front of them. He had much longer hair and there was a bandage over his right eye, but there was no mistaking it, it was him. She threw her arms around his neck as Levi stared at him in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“They let me go and I've just been knocking on doors until I found you.” Eren answered as Mikasa released him and stepped aside to let him in the house. “It's been a long time.”

“Yeah, four years.” Levi said, walking toward the table. “What have you found out?”

“They're preparing to attack Paradis Island, which is apparently where we're from. They're going to try to completely destroy it. I haven't seen Reiner, but from what Falco has said about him he might not be around much longer anyway. He seems really worried about him.”

“Good, maybe he'll off himself so that we don't have to go to the trouble.”

“You don't understand, Levi. Falco seems to think that Reiner resents being a warrior. That he misses being a _soldier_ with the rest of us. He thinks that Reiner is thinking about switching sides.”

“And you're just going to accept that?” Mikasa asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We need all the help we can get now. Most of the Survey Corps is dead. If Reiner wants to join us, let him.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Levi snapped. “You're talking about letting someone that's already betrayed us once back into our ranks. He's the reason most of us are dead now. He's the reason Erwin is dead.”

“The nine of us can't do this on our own, Levi. Reiner could be a valuable tool. If we have the armored titan _and_ the colossal titan on our side, we will have completely turned the tables on them. Not to mention that we still have Annie, not that I think they'll try to save her. But that's just one more titan that they don't have to use against us.”

“You were right, Levi...He has changed.” Mikasa said in a sad tone.

“What are you talking about?” Eren asked, a bit of the old rage that he used to harbor returning to his voice.

“You don't have any fight left, do you? After that fight back home you just...lost something.”

“I'm talking about saving our whole civilization here, Mikasa. I'm sorry if I'm trying to look at the bigger picture!” He yelled at her and she flinched a bit, the same as she always had. “You're right, I'm sorry.”

“Listen Eren, if you want to go about it that way that's fine, but we need to get this information back to Armin and Hanji first. We can't go acting of our own free will.” Levi said, trying to break the tension between Eren and Mikasa.

“We don't have time for that. They're going to move soon.”

“How soon?”

“I don't know exactly, but Falco said they're preparing now.”

“We have to find a way to get word back to them, and fast. I have 3DM gear buried outside of the confines of their civilization. If I can get out of here tonight and get to it I can probably get back to the rest of the Scouts.” Levi suggested, looking at Mikasa as he spoke.

“What if you can't make it?” She asked, concern in her eyes.

“I'll make it. I want you two to stay here when I go, I'll be back before tomorrow morning.”

“Alright, that sounds like it might work.” Eren agreed before Mikasa could say anything else. He could tell that something was different between them, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

“Eren, have you eaten?” She asked, quickly changing the subject to busy herself.

“No, I'm starving.” He answered with a smile.

“I'll make something for breakfast.” She shot one last sad look at Levi before she turned to go to the kitchen.

“So, what have the two of you been up to since we got here?” Eren asked Levi as he took a seat at the table. Levi took a seat as well before he answered.

“Pretending to be a couple to keep a low profile. Working boring ass jobs and barely earning enough money to scrape by. How was your stay with the Marleyans?”

“Nerve wracking.” Eren answered with a sigh. “I kept thinking that I would be caught, that Reiner or Zeke would show up and recognize me, but they never did. I learned a lot while I was there, too.”

“You did a good job, Eren.”

“Thanks, Heichou.” Eren answered with a smile.

Mikasa stayed silent as they talked, her anxiety about what Levi was going to do tonight was reaching an all time high as she did her best to make something appetizing for them to eat. She had said she wouldn't have to worry about Levi as much as she had worried for Eren when he went on missions, and that was still partly true, but she couldn't help but worry for him a little bit. What he was going to do was dangerous. If he was caught they would more than likely kill him, if they could restrain him long enough, that is.

“Here.” She said, practically throwing a plate of eggs and some toast on the table before she stormed off to the bedroom and closed the door. Eren looked overjoyed at the amount of food on the table, but Levi was concerned with Mikasa. He looked back at the door and then to Eren before pushing himself up from the table.

“Heichou, you're not gonna eat?” Eren asked as he chowed down.

“I'm not too hungry, I drank too much last night.” He said, turning to walk toward the door. “I'll be right back, Eren, you just enjoy your breakfast.”

He pushed through the door without knocking, not that he thought she would have answered him anyway. He found her on the bed, curled up in a ball around a pillow, a blank look on her face. He didn't say anything, he just walked over to the bedside and stood there. He wasn't even exactly sure what he would say to her, even if he knew exactly what was bothering her. Eren's presence this morning had been more than a bit shocking, but he didn't think that was all there was to her sudden mood swing.

“Everything was starting to seem normal.” She whispered, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, then she made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I should have known it wouldn't work out that easily.”

“Everything will be fine. I'll report to Armin and Hanji and come straight back. No one will ever know I was gone.” He said in way of reassurance, but somehow he didn't think she was convinced.

“If you die I'll never forgive you.”

“I won't die.” He said, sitting on the bed beside her and brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face.

“You can say that while you're here, but what if something goes wrong? What if they catch you before you get away? Or when you're coming back? What if they come here and find Eren? Do you think I can hold them off on my own? What if they attack Paradis Island before we can even get word to the others?”

“It isn't like you to worry this much about something like this. What else is bothering you?” He asked as she sat up on the bed beside him, hugging the pillow to her chest.

“Eren coming back so soon after...I just wasn't expecting to see him right now.” She explained, glancing up at him.

“Too many old feelings flooding back all at once. You're having second thoughts about us.”

“No! Levi, no. I love you, don't doubt that. I just...like you said, he's changed. What if he wants something more now?”

“Would you give it to him if he did?”

“I...I don't know what I would do.” She said, looking toward the red scarf that Eren had given her all those years ago. She hadn't worn it since they'd arrived at Marley, but she'd always kept it where she could see it.

“The choice is yours to make. I can't influence you. Like you said before, you can't pick who you love. I won't resent you if your change your mind.” He put his finger under her chin and raised her head so that she was looking at him before he kissed her and they heard the door creak open behind them.

“Mikasa, I...” Eren's voice rang through the room before they realized he had entered. They broke away hurriedly, and Mikasa stared at him in shock as he took in the scene before him. “S-sorry...I didn't know...”

“Eren!” Mikasa yelled his name as he hurried out of the room, and she chased him leaving Levi alone as they talked in the kitchen. He could hear their conversation from where he sat, but he wished that he couldn't.

“How long has this been happening?” He asked, trying to keep his voice down, but he wasn't succeeding. The old Eren had slowly crept his way back into the Eren that had arrived unexpectedly at their doorstep this morning.

“Eren, please...just let me explain.” Mikasa pleaded, but it didn't seem that Eren wanted to hear what she had to say.

“How long, Mikasa?”

“Only about three weeks now.” She answered, shame dripping from her words.

“He's our Captain! Our superior! Mikasa, he's more than _twice_ your age. How are you okay with this?!”

“It's not like you were around, Eren! Not that it would have made a difference! You were completely oblivious to how I felt about you! And if you weren't, and you knew, you had a funny way of showing it!”

“What was I supposed to do? The weight of all of humanity has been resting on my shoulders since Trost! Did you expect me to just drop all of that so that I could be your boyfriend?”

“No! I just wish that you would have shown any affection toward me at all! I would have died for you, Eren, I still would! I love you more than anything in this whole world, but I can't wait my whole life for you to return that affection. Besides...you only have so many years left...” He could hear the pain in Mikasa's voice as she stated the fact that had been hanging over everyone's heads since they found out the secrets of the basement. Eren only has three years left to live, it was a fact they couldn't escape. It seemed like he had come to terms with it, but when the news broke, Mikasa had been inconsolable.

“You're right...it's unfair of me to expect you to just hold on to those feelings forever. I just didn't want you to worry any more than I know you already do. I just thought...if we could finish this before my time was up...”

“Eren, you only have three years left...” Mikasa said in almost a whisper. Levi pushed himself from the bed and peeked out the door at the two of them as they talked. “Do you really think all of this will be over by then? Do you think that we can both survive a war like this and live happily ever after?”

“I don't know. I just hoped that you wouldn't give up on me.” Eren answered, looking down at the floor as he spoke.

“I will never give up on you, Eren, but I can't sit around and wait for this to be over. I've waited more than a decade for you to return this affection...but now it's just...it's too late.”

Levi crept his way out of the room to lean against the wall of the small living space that separated the kitchen/dining room from the bedroom. He didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but he felt he needed to say something. He knew that Eren wouldn't want to hear anything from him. There was once a time when Eren respected and looked up to him, he wondered how much that had changed now that he knew that Mikasa had chosen him. He was there for a long time before Eren noticed him, and Levi could see the rage building in him as they locked eyes. He could see the fire burning behind those emerald green eyes, the same fire that he remembered from all those years ago, before his fight had vacated his body. Eren practically ran over to him, his anger fueling him as he balled his fist and threw a punch straight at him. Levi ducked it and moved away from the wall toward the middle of the room.

“Eren, stop!” Mikasa shouted as he prepared to strike again.

“You son of a bitch!” He shouted as he threw another punch.

“Can't we be civil about this, Eren?” Levi asked, trying to avoid conflict. He was answered with another swing at his head, which he also deftly dodged. Eren might have become an adept fighter during his training, but Levi was better, and faster. He caught the next punch Eren threw and twisted his arm behind his back, pinning him against the wall.

“I'll kill you!” He shouted, struggling against the smaller man's grip.

“I can't defend myself in this situation. I can't help what's happening between Mikasa and me. But you can be the bigger man and accept that _you_ are the one that pushed her away.”

“Eren, please.” Mikasa begged as she walked toward them. “I still love you, and I always will, but I have to move on. Please understand.”

Eren's rage turned to tears and his fight died out. Levi let him go, feeling comfortable that he wouldn't lash out again. He was right, Eren slid down the wall into a heap of tears on the floor, his back turned to both of them. Levi felt bad for everything that was happening. He had grown to love Eren too. He was possibly the best friend that Levi had made in a very long time, and he didn't like seeing him this way, but what Mikasa had said was true. She couldn't wait for him forever, especially since he didn't have that much longer left to live. Mikasa knelt beside him and gathered him into her arms. He didn't fight her or refuse her embrace, he simply let her hold him while he cried.

He didn't know what else to say. Everything he thought of just seemed like a betrayal to Eren. He felt like he needed to get out of the house, to leave them alone and let them cope, but where would he go? He decided he would figure it out later and made for the door.

“Levi?” Mikasa noticed that he was leaving and called after him.

“I'll be back soon. You two need time alone.” He answered.

“Be careful.” She said before turning her attention back to Eren. He exited the house and just started walking. He didn't know where he was going, but anywhere was better than there. Mikasa had been right, everything had seemed perfect just the night before, and now their world was crumbling again.

“What the fuck have I gotten myself into?” He asked himself, raking a hand through his hair. He found an alleyway and cut through it to find another small neighborhood, almost identical to the one where he and Mikasa ha been living. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked through the streets, not paying much attention to his surroundings or where he was going. He suddenly slammed into someone and he was snapped out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, excuse...”

“Levi...” He looked a bit different now, and a bit older, but there was no denying that he'd just run into Reiner, the armored titan, living in a slum like the rest of the Eldians. Levi's eyes went wide and his breathing quickened as he realized what had just happened. He'd been found, and it could potentially jeopardize the whole mission. He would have to kill Reiner here and now if he wanted to remain undercover. He grabbed the knife that he kept on him at all times and readied himself for a fight.

“Wait, no! I don't want to fight you, Levi!” Reiner panicked, putting his hands up in front of his body in surrender.

“Stop calling me that! That isn't my name here!” He said, gritting his teeth as he looked around for witnesses. No one was around at the moment, but he wondered how long that would last.

“What should I call you, then?”

“Kaito.”

“Fine, Kaito...I want to help!” Reiner said, his eyes wide as he begged for his life.

“How do I know you're telling the truth?”

“I'm miserable here. The things I've done...what I was forced to do...They call me a hero, but I feel like a monster.”

“That's because you are.”

“You think I don't know that?! I live every day bearing the burden of what I did to your people. The burden of not being able to save Bertholt! I went home and almost shot myself in the face yesterday because of what I've done!”

“Yeah, you're worrying Falco.” Levi said, relaxing his stance a bit as he brought up the young Marleyan warrior. He saw Reiner's expression change a bit then.

“How...how do you know about Falco?” He looked shocked at the mention of his young friend's name.

“Come with me.” Levi demanded, and Reiner did as he was asked.

“What about the other shifters? Do they live around here too? Will I find Zeke wondering these streets?”

“No. Zeke lives with the other Marleyans. He earned his spot with them a long time ago.”

“Good, then our cover isn't blown yet.”

“ _Our_?” Reiner asked, looking over at Levi as they walked. “Who else is here?”

“You'll see.” Levi answered. The rest of their walk was quick and without conversation. He opened the door to the house and lead Reiner in, much to the shock of Eren and Mikasa who were sitting at the table together when they came in. It seemed that the situation had calmed since he left, but he was about to throw them right back into the fire.

“Levi, what the fuck?” Mikasa asked, shocked as she jumped from her seat and grabbed the closest weapon to her, which happened to be the empty whiskey bottle from the night before.

“Mikasa...Eren...?” Reiner asked as he looked at the two of them.

“Reiner.” Eren said in way of a greeting.

“What are you all doing here?”

“Infiltrating Marley.” Levi answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He hadn't left the door since they walked in, there was no way he was going to take the chance of Reiner running away with their secrets.

“Falco told me about you Reiner. How are you doing?” Eren asked as he pushed himself out of his chair and moved closer to Reiner. He was surprisingly calm after what he had just been through, especially considering the fact that he was seeing the person responsible for killing most, if not all, of his friends and comrades.

“You talked to Falco?” Reiner asked, shocked.

“Falco and I have become good friends over the past four years.”

“Four years? You've all been here for that long?”

“Infiltrating an enemy territory isn't something you can do overnight. You should know that.” Levi chimed in.

“Falco said he was afraid you might do something stupid. He's afraid you'll kill yourself.”

“Falco...” Reiner said, dropping to his knees as his eyes reflected the pain he felt. “I...I never meant to worry him. He and Gabi are the reason I haven't...”

“I believe him when he says he wants to help us.” Levi said, looking at Mikasa and Eren. “He doesn't believe in the Marleyan cause anymore.”

“Is that true, Reiner?” Mikasa asked, breaking her silence and putting her makeshift weapon down on the table.

“I...I can't live with what I've done for these people. But I can't just abandon them. Gabi and Falco...they deserve better. They deserve to have a real life. I don't want them to be forced into this...into this hell that I've had to endure. I just want them to have the freedom to make their own choices. They're _nine years old_. The same as when Bertholt, Annie and me left Marley to go to Paradis Island. They've already seen large scale combat. Gabi almost died trying to bring glory to Marley. Please...let me help you. I just want to save them from the fucked up life that we had to live.”

“This all seems convincing, but he already deceived us once before. We know he's good at telling lies to get what he wants.” Mikasa said, watching as Reiner sobbed on the floor.

“If he's lying, or if we get the smallest hint that he's trying to betray us, we'll kill him on the spot. Plus, he's going to prove tonight that he's loyal to us.” Levi said, placing a hand on Reiner's shoulder. Reiner looked up at him, confused as to what he meant. “Because you're going to help me leave this place undetected so that I can get information back to Hanji, and then you're going to get me back in.”

“I'll do whatever you want as long as you help me save Gabi and Falco.” Reiner agreed, tears flowing down his face.

“Indeed you will, Reiner, because if you don't it will mean the lives of your friends, and you.”


	4. Chapter 4

The day seemed to go by quickly as they waited for night to fall, too quickly for Mikasa, it seemed. She'd done nothing for most of the day but stick close to Levi, trying not to make Eren jealous while also feeling the need to make physical contact with her newly found love. They all kept a close eye on Reiner, as well. It was hard to just accept that he was willing to help now, after all that had happened, but he really did seem like he had changed. Even before he and Bertholt had escaped, Reiner seemed different, but now it seemed that he had lost the will to even live, much less pull tricks on them to ruin their plans. When night finally fell Mikasa was a nervous wreck. She'd been pacing the floor of the small living area for an hour before the sun actually set, and her pace had only quickened as it got darker.

“Are you ready?” Reiner asked Levi as he walked toward the door.

“Yeah, let's go.” Levi answered, pulling on a light jacket. He paused to kiss Mikasa before he left and thought that Eren's eyes might roll out of his head as he watched.

“Be careful.” She said, gripping the collar of his jacket.

“Don't worry about me.” He reassured her. She released him then and watched as he walked out of the house with Reiner, wondering if she'd ever see him again.

“So how are you going to do this?” Levi asked as they moved together under the cover of night to the south side of the compound they were kept in.

“The guards know me. I'll tell them that I was assigned watch duty for the night. I should be able to get you in and out safely that way.” Reiner answered as they neared the watch tower. They stopped behind a nearby building. “Wait here until he leaves. I'll open the gate for you when it's clear.”

Reiner moved away from Levi then, walking casually toward the watch tower. The guard there greeted him with a smile as he climbed up the steep stairs.

“Reiner, what are you doing here so late?” The guard asked.

“They put me on watch duty tonight, so you're relieved. Go home and spend some time with your family.” Reiner answered.

“A hero like you doing a grunt task like the night watch? It's kind of below you, don't you think?”

“To be completely honest, I asked for it. I can't stay cooped up inside all the time. I needed a change of scenery.”

“Alright, well, thanks. I'll be on my way.” The guard said, then walked down the stairs and away from the tower. Levi waited until he was well away before he made his way to Reiner.

“I'll be back just before sunrise.” Levi said as Reiner opened the gate for him. “Make sure no one suspects anything.”

“Got it. Try and be quick. Guards patrol this area too. I can keep their suspicions down with the same story I told that one, but you need to make sure they aren't around when you come back.” Reiner urged as Levi walked through the gate.

“I won't thank you yet, not until I know the plan succeeds, but we're grateful for your help. Just make sure you don't fuck it up.” Levi said before he ran toward the forest that was nearby. He went to the spot where he'd hidden the 3DM gear before they infiltrated and equipped it so that he could move more quickly. Hanji, Armin and the others had set up a camp just far enough away from Marley so that their patrols wouldn't find them, and that's where he was headed now. He zipped through the trees nimbly, reveling in the feeling of being off the ground again. He had always loved flying, it made him feel more free, and that was important since most of his life had been spent underground or trapped inside a cage that they called a society. It didn't take him long at all to find the Survey Corps camp, and they were all on edge when he arrived. The first person he saw was Jean, he'd apparently been put on guard duty for the night.

“Levi!” Jean said, a shocked expression plastered on his face. “Where are Eren and Mikasa?”

“Still in Marley, I had to get out to relay information to Hanji and Armin, where are they?” Levi asked, cutting to the chase. Jean lead him into a small building with a large table that had maps and plans spread across it, covering its entire surface. Hanji sat at the head of the table with Armin at her side and they were both surprised when he entered.

“Levi! You have news.” Hanji said, knowing that would be the only reason for him to be there.

“Marley plans to attack Paradis Island soon. Eren gathered some valuable intel while he was on the inside of their ranks. He befriended one of the boys that's in the next generation of their warriors. Also...we found Reiner.”

“What happened?” Armin asked, his eyes wide as he waited for an answer.

“He helped me get out of Marley tonight so that I could bring you this news. You both need to work on a plan to attack them before they can strike us. Reiner is willing to help, so take that fact into account. We'll have the colossal, armored, and attack titans when we're ready to make our move on them. They shouldn't be able to fight back much.”

“What about Mikasa and Eren? Are they okay?” Jean asked as he stood at the entrance of the building.

“They're fine. Eren and Mikasa are together in the house Mikasa and I have been staying in, currently. The hospital released Eren just today.” Levi answered, remembering the events of the day.

“The hospital?!” Armin said, nervous energy pouring from his body.

“He's fine, he just got a few cuts and bruises on a mission they sent him on. Nothing he can't handle. I'm sure he's already healed completely.”

“So Reiner is helping us now? Is there any ultimatum from him?” Hanji asked, still obviously suspicious of their long time enemy turned ally.

“He only asked that we help his two young friends so that they don't have to go through the same thing he went through. I agreed.”

“And you trust him?”

“Not completely, but he's the only person on the inside that we really have. He seems like he truly regrets what's happened. We have it on the word of Falco and Reiner himself that he tried to kill himself just yesterday. He was visibly distraught when he told us about it. He's remorseful.”

“Fine, but you'll kill him if he betrays us.” Hanji said, the side of her that was now the Commander of the Survey Corps shining in her eyes.

“Of course.” Levi answered.

“For now we'll tell the rest of the Scouts what's happening. I want you to get back to Marley and prepare for an attack. Take back some extra gear and hide it wherever you hid that one. The four of you will need it when the time comes. Armin and I will devise a strategy. I want you to come back three nights from now so that we can relay the plan to you.”

“Fine.” Levi answered before he turned to leave.

“Good work, Levi. Keep it up.” Hanji said before he exited the building. He nodded his acknowledgment before gathering the extra equipment he would need and he zipped back toward Marley. His task hadn't taken as long as he thought it would and he'd made it back to the forest on the outskirts of Marley still in the dead of night. He buried the gear where he'd left it before and watched a lone flashlight as it moved up to the tower Reiner was stationed in. The guard stayed to talk with Reiner for a bit before he moved on, and Levi made his move toward the gate again. Reiner let him in with no incident.

“You're early.” Reiner said as they both hurriedly walked back toward the house.

“Yeah, didn't take too long. I have to go back in three nights. Think you can help again?”

“Sure. What did they say?”

“Hanji agreed to help your friends. She's weary of you, as we all are, but if you prove yourself you'll be fine. She's coming up with a plan now with Armin.”

“No one here is a match for those two. You'll succeed.”

“I hope you're right.” Levi said as they made it back to the house and both entered without knocking. Mikasa jumped a bit at their sudden appearance, but ran over to Levi as soon as she realized who had entered the house. Eren was sleeping on the small sofa that sat against the wall, but Levi knew Mikasa would still be awake when he returned. There was no way she would have been able to sleep. Mikasa threw her arms around Levi's neck and hugged him tightly before standing back to ask about what Hanji had said. He relayed what he'd just told Reiner and she seemed satisfied with what he'd said before she moved to the table and sat down in one of the chairs.

“This is really none of my business, but I have to ask...” Reiner chimed in as Levi made his way to the table as well. “Are the two of you...involved in some way?”

“You're right, it _is_ really none of your business.” Levi answered with a scowl as he took a seat.

“I'll just take that as a yes, then.” Reiner said, a knowing smile spreading across his face.

“Go back to your home, Reiner. Come back in three nights so that we can do this again. And don't breathe a word of this to anyone, understood?” Levi glared at Reiner, sending jolts of panic through him. Levi knew he was afraid of him, all of the titan shifters seemed to be, and that worked well in his advantage. Reiner only nodded before he exited the house and Levi and Mikasa were finally left alone again.

“Are you tired?” Mikasa asked, glancing toward Levi as he sat, legs crossed, in his chair.

“Extremely.” He answered.

“Let's go to bed then.” She said, getting up from her chair and reaching for his hand. He looked back at Eren, then back to her.

“How's he doing now?”

“I think he's coping. That's really all I can expect. We had a long talk while you were gone. I think he has a better understanding of what drove me to make this decision now. That doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt him though.”

“He must think the worst of me now.” He said as he got up from his seat and followed Mikasa to their bedroom.

“I'm not entirely sure what he thinks about you.”

“I've lost his respect, that much is clear from before.”

“He still looks up to you, Levi, you just have to give him time. He respects you more than anyone else, he's not going to just forget that because we're together now.”

“The punches he was throwing at me before beg to differ.” He closed the door and removed his shirt before climbing into the bed. He was exhausted, but he knew he wouldn't find sleep tonight. Most nights he wasn't able to sleep anyway, tonight wouldn't be any different. Mikasa changed into her usual sleep attire and climbed into bed with him, cuddling up to his side.

“Eren will get over it. He always does. Just give him a little bit of time and space, he'll be back to normal in no time.” She said as she closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that he'd made it back unscathed.

“You're probably right.” He answered, but she had already fallen asleep. It was amazing to him how quickly she was able to find sleep when she was with him. He wished it worked the same for him. He had never been able to sleep much at all, and it probably stemmed from the nights he'd spent alone after his mother had died. He never felt safe in the underground as a child, and never got more than two or three hours of sleep a night, that habit had followed him into adulthood. He looked around the dark room, enjoying the stillness of the night. Even though he didn't sleep he had always enjoyed the night. No one else was ever around to pester him and he was free to just be alone and undisturbed. It was only when a heavy rain storm rolled in that he was able to find the few hours of sleep that his body craved.

 

 

 

A knock on the bedroom door jolted Levi from his sleep and jerked him back into reality. The sun had risen already, but Mikasa was still fast asleep. He walked to the door and opened it to reveal Eren standing there, a look on his face that Levi seldom saw on him.

“Can we talk, Heichou?” He asked as he glanced into the room behind Levi and then forced his eyes back to him. He'd used a title of respect when addressing him, so that was a good sign already. Maybe all hope hadn't been lost for their friendship after all.

“Sure, give me a minute.” He said, leaving the door cracked a bit as he went to retrieve a shirt and then exited the room. He closed the door behind him that time so that they're voices wouldn't disturb Mikasa as she slept.

“I'm sorry, about yesterday. I just didn't expect something like this between the two of you. I mean...aren't you related?” Eren said as he sat down on the sofa.

“More than likely.” Levi answered. He knew that would be the major concern of everyone once they figured out what was going on, but they were more than likely only distantly related.

“Doesn't that bother you?”

“It's a concern, but over all it doesn't matter that much to us. The chances that we're closely related are slim to none. Bloodlines are tricky things.”

“Okay, well, that aside, does it bother you that she's so much younger than you are?”

“At first, yes.” He sat down on the opposite side of the sofa from Eren, crossing his legs. “She convinced me that it didn't matter though. We're both adults, and consenting, her age shouldn't matter in the long run.”

“But you could be her father.”

“Do you mean biologically or figuratively, because I can assure you Eren, I haven't fathered any children.”

“Figuratively.” Eren said, blinking his eyes at the statement Levi had just made. “So this is real then. You and Mikasa are actually...together.”

“Yes.” Levi said, looking over at his young friend. “I know it bothers you, for more reasons than one.”

“As long as she's happy...” He trailed off, looking down at the floor for a moment. “I just always thought that...once all this was over...”

“I'm sorry that things didn't work out as you'd hoped.”

“I should have known better than to expect her to wait for me. Especially after we found out about my limited life span. Making her hold out for that long and then expecting her to just be okay with only getting three years with me was selfish. At least with you I know she'll be well taken care of, and safe.”

“Mikasa can take care of herself.” Levi said, raking a hand through his disheveled bedhead. “But I'll make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble.”

“I know she can, she can take care of herself and everyone else if she needs to. She's always been that way.” Eren smiled a little then, thinking back on all the years they'd spent together. “Just make sure she's happy when all this is over, okay? I know I won't be around forever so...if you do anything for my benefit, make it that.”

“Yeah, of course.” Levi said without hesitation. The conversation was troubling. He felt both better and worse about the whole thing now. He knew Eren was hurting because of it, but it also felt like he had received his blessing, in a way.

“Promise me.” Eren said, determination filling his eyes as he looked over at his superior.

“I promise. She'll be safe and happy as long as I can help it.”

“Good.” Eren leaned back on the sofa then, letting his head fall back to rest on the back of it.

“Are you ready for the next mission?” Levi asked, trying to shift the topic of conversation from his relationship to something that actually mattered at the moment.

“I don't think I'm ever ready for them. I know it will involve me shifting. I just hope we aren't acting too soon.”

“Hopefully it will take them by surprise. I'm sure they aren't expecting an attack from us.”

“They have other titans, you know. The beast titan is one thing, but they also have the jaw titan, the cartman. I've heard there are supposed to be nine, but I haven't gotten a name for the last one. I know that the three that they do have are living within the Marleyan part of the civilization. They're treated well. They're probably betting on having Reiner too. That'll surely be a surprise for them. We could even have Reiner infiltrate their meetings and be on the inside when we attack.”

“I'm sure Hanji is thinking about all of that while she makes her plans.” Levi moved from the sofa and went to the kitchen to make tea, and he made sure to put on enough water for the both of them. He never thought that he would be able to talk to Eren like this again, at least not so soon after dropping the news on him, but it was nice to fall back into the same comfortable relationship they'd always had.

“It's going to be hard, you know.” Eren said, moving over to the kitchen table and taking a seat. “They won't go down without a hell of a fight.”

“Yeah. Hanji has the thunder spears, though. That should help a lot. They were designed to get through Reiner's armor. Even if the other titans in their possession can harden their skin we should be able to make quick work out of them.”

“They have more advanced weapons than we do, too. Cannons and guns paired with the titans they have will be difficult to beat.”

“It's also much harder to shoot us when we're flying through the air on 3DM gear. I brought enough back for the four of us to use when the time comes.”

“Do you think we can actually do it?” Eren asked as Levi brought the tea kettle and two cups to the table. Eren took one and let Levi pour him a cup as he waited for an answer.

“I think we have a good chance. Everything just has to work out right. We can't afford to lose any more soldiers. If we can do this...we won't have to live in fear any more.”

“And everything up until now will not have been for nothing.”

“I do hate pointless death, that would be a silver lining.” Levi said, sipping his tea. Mikasa entered the room then, stretching as she made her way toward the table.

“You two are up early.” She said, taking a seat beside Eren and across the table from Levi. She reached across the table and stole a drink of Levi's tea before returning the cup to him and going to the cupboard to get her own.

“Yeah, we've been talking.” Levi answered, watching her as she retrieved her cup and came back to them.

“Nice, civil talks, I hope. I haven't heard any screaming, so that must be a good sign.” She smiled as she looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Everything's fine, Mikasa, don't worry. I was just too worked up before.” Eren said with a bit of a smile. “I'm happy for the two of you.”

“Eren...” She said, a small smile playing across her lips as Levi poured tea for her.

“We've got work today, will you be okay here by yourself while we're gone, Eren?” Levi asked, getting up from the table to get dressed for his work day.

“Yeah, I'll be fine.” He answered.

“We'll only be gone for half the day anyway, so you should be able to entertain yourself for at least that long.”

“I'll find something to do.”

“Just try to stay out of trouble.” Levi said, exiting the room to retreat into the bedroom. Mikasa got up and unexpectedly hugged Eren then, catching him off guard.

“Thank you, Eren. For understanding.” She said, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Don't worry about it.” He answered with a smile. “Go get dressed for work or you'll be late.”

 

 

 

Working at the munitions factory had actually helped Levi a lot. He'd learned to make bullets, and that was a good skill to have on its own, but it also gave him a better understanding of what exactly they would be up against when the time came to attack. He finished his work for the day and had told Mikasa that he would meet her outside of the bakery she worked at so that they could go for a little walk before they went home, but he quickly realized that wouldn't be an option. He was being followed. Two men in brown overcoats wearing brimmed hats had been following him for at least a block. He'd purposefully taken the long way to the bakery because he'd had his suspicions about them, and he was proven right when he turned a corner and they followed behind him.

He hadn't thought that he'd done anything suspicious, but maybe someone had seen him sneaking back into the compound the night before. Nonetheless, it wasn't good, and he would have to find a way to lose them soon if he wanted to escape their grasp. If only he had 3DM gear, then he would be able to make a clean getaway. He turned another corner and found a fire escape, which he jumped on and scaled as quickly as he could to avoid the eyes of his pursuers. He climbed to the top of the building and it seemed that he had lost them until the roof access door to the building swung open and they both came rushing out of it. His heart beat fast in his chest. Would they kill him? It was hard to say. It didn't look like they were armed, but the suspense was enough to keep him on edge.

“What do you want?” He asked, trying to keep his voice calm. For all he knew they didn't know who he actually was. He needed to try and play it cool until he could figure out the situation at hand.

“I think you know, Levi.” One of the men smirked as he talked to him but Levi couldn't see his face completely.

“I don't know who you're talking about.” Levi said, he tried to deny his actual name, still hoping that he could escape them. In hindsight, climbing the building was probably the worst thing he could have done. Now he had no escape route. “My name is Kaito Arakawa. I think you have the wrong person.”

“Don't play dumb. Do you think we don't know who the Ackermans are?” The man removed his hat to reveal a dark head of hair and a devilish smirk. “You're the strongest soldier for our enemies, and they sent you right into our den. What were they thinking?”

“How did you find me? It's not like you higher ups to come wondering around the slums of the Eldians.” Levi asked, assuming a stronger stance. If Reiner had betrayed them he would need to get word back to Mikasa and Eren, assuming that they weren't already captured as well.

“Your supervisor became suspicious of you. Seems you were taking too much extra care in making sure all of the bullets that you put together were above average. Really you were just studying them. How long have you been here? Four years? That's a long time for someone like you to be away from your home. Leaving them practically defenseless. It's not a very noble thing to do.”

“I was following orders.” He said, trying to think of a way to figure out if Mikasa and Eren were still safe or not.

“You are an interesting man though, Levi. You've got our strongest warrior shaking in his boots. Zeke told us that he never wants to encounter you on the field of battle again. We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen, now that we've found you.”

“Oh, Zeke, the big ape that I chopped up back in Shiganshina? He has every reason to be scared of me.” Levi said in a cocky tone. “But who are you, to know all of these things about my past and have such an intimate knowledge of how the warriors here think?”

“Oh, how rude of me, I did neglect to introduce myself. I am Theo Magath, the Commander of our troops here. It's nice to finally meet you.”

“I wish I could say the same.” Levi spat, balling his fists at his sides.

“I don't know what your true purpose here was, Levi, but you realize we can't let you go. You hold valuable information, about Marley _and_ about Paradis Island and what your fellow soldiers have in store for us. I'd thank you kindly if you would come with us and tell us everything you know.” Magath smirked and pulled a pistol out of a holster at his side and the other man that was with him did the same.

“You should know that it won't be that easy. I'll die before I tell you anything.”

“Oh no, we'll make sure you don't die.” He said, taking aim. Levi looked around the roof, desperately trying to figure out an escape route. He saw a pipe that he might be able to shimmy down far enough to jump off of the roof without injuring himself, but getting there would be hard for him to do. He was fast, but he didn't think he could outrun a bullet. In the end, it was his only option, and he dashed toward the pipe. He heard a shot ring out and dove for the side of the building, but the agonizing pain he felt in his left thigh told him that Magath's bullet had hit its mark.

“Damn.” He hissed, his hand immediately finding the wound and applying pressure. He tried to push himself to his feet, but the pain was too great. Before, during his fight with Kenny, he'd been grazed by a bullet but this time he was hit directly, and it was much different this time around. The types of bullets they used here were also different. They were designed to break off and scatter within whatever they hit, making it more painful and more debilitating for the victim.

Magath calmly walked toward him, holstering his pistol again and crouching down, taking a hand full of Levi's hair and yanking him closer. Levi hissed at the pain that coursed through his body as he was forced to look at the man that had just shot him.

“We're going to have lots of fun, you and I.” He smirked then and that was the last thing Levi saw before his world went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of a hard time writing this chapter, but I'm hoping it still turned out well. Just a warning that there are some graphic depictions of violence in this one. Enjoy.

“Eren!” Mikasa yelled his name as she entered the house. He jumped up from his nap, rubbing his eyes furiously at the sudden jolt from sleep. “Eren, is Levi here?”

“No, I thought he was supposed to be with you.” Eren answered, pushing himself to a sitting position on the sofa.

“He never showed up. I waited an hour after work and he never showed.” She was frantic, her worst suspicions were coming true. She had hoped that he had forgotten about the walk they'd planned for after work and just come home, but that hadn't been the case.

“It's okay, I'm sure he's just busy doing something else. Maybe they wanted him to work longer.” Eren tried desperately to calm her, but he was beginning to see that it couldn't be done.

“He never does that. He works and he comes straight home unless we've planned to do something else. Eren, something is wrong. Something happened to him.”

“There has to be some other explanation.” Eren said, searching for a reason why this might have happened.

“Eren, Mikasa...can I come in?” Reiner's voice rang through the room from the front door that Mikasa had neglected to close in her rush to get in the house.

“Reiner, do you know where Levi is?” Mikasa asked as soon as he walked in. He closed the door behind him before he spoke again.

“They captured him.” He said.

“What?”

“I don't know how they knew who he was, but they called us all in for a meeting today. They didn't tell us where they were holding him, just that they have him.”

“We have to go get him back!” Mikasa shouted, heading for the door, but Reiner caught her arm. She spun around to glare at him before she jerked away.

“Mikasa, we need to think about this. We can't just rush into some situation that we know nothing about.” Eren said, for once being the voice of reason in a bad situation.

“We have plenty of time. They won't kill him, he's too valuable.” Reiner said as he moved further into the room.

“We need to get word back to Hanji and Armin.”

“What will they do to him if they don't kill him?” Mikasa asked, her panic taking over her voice as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

“They're more than likely torturing him for information. Regardless of what they're doing to him right now, Magath told us that he wouldn't be killed. They want to use him as leverage to bargain with Paradis.”

“You're a warrior of Marley, tell me Reiner, where do they take prisoners of war?” Mikasa said, her panic moving aside for rage to pour into her words.

“They don't tell us that kind of thing. It isn't our job to know.” He answered, wishing that he could do more to ease her anxiety.

“Mikasa, when night falls you need to go to Hanji and Armin. They need to know what's happening. You know Levi better than I do, I'm sure you'll be able to find the gear that he's hidden. Reiner, you can help her get out when the sun sets, right?”

“Yeah, leave it to me.” Reiner said.

“Good, then it's settled. We don't act until nightfall. Hanji and Armin will know what to do.”

 

 

 

He woke up as ice cold water was dumped over his head, gasping for air before he opened his eyes to look around the room. He wasn't sure where he was, but he knew it was nowhere good. He tried to move, but it was no use, he was retrained, tied to the chair he was sitting in. When he struggled against his restraints pain shot through his left leg and he looked down to see that blood had soaked through his pants and made a large stain. His head was pounding as a single, bright light shone down on him from high above.

“You're awake.” He heard a familiar voice, but it wasn't the voice of Magath, no this was someone different. The man stepped into the light to reveal himself and he recognized him instantly.

“Zeke.” He spat the name as if it was the most filthy word that had ever left his lips.

“Levi.” He said with a sinister smile. “Normally they wouldn't involve the shifters in this kind of thing but, well, I need a little revenge. You made a fool out of me the last time we met. Do you remember?”

“Yeah, I heard you're terrified of me.”

“Nothing to be scared of when you can't fly through the air.” Zeke moved toward him, pushing a cart of surgical instruments as he went. Levi's eyes followed him the whole way. “I'm surprised that you managed to get yourself caught.”

“Unfortunately I can't run faster than a bullet can travel.” He shot back.

“Unfortunate for you. Very good for us.”

“If you think you're getting any information from me, you're wrong. You might as well just kill me now and save yourself the trouble.” He didn't believe that Zeke would actually kill him, not like this, his pride would get in the way. If Zeke wanted to kill him, he would want to do it in battle. He hoped for Mikasa's sake that he was right about his prediction. He had promised her that he wouldn't die, after all.

“You'll talk.” Zeke eyed the tools that were on the cart, running his fingers over the handles before landing on a scalpel. He picked it up and let the light hit it so that Levi could see exactly what he was holding.

“Have you ever been a prisoner of war before, Captain?” Zeke asked as he began to walk around the chair Levi was tied to.

“Can't say that I have. Normally I can't be caught. Not that titans really do that kind of thing.” He answered, watching Zeke out of the corner of his eye.

“Ah yes, I forgot, you've never actually fought against other people. We're much tougher opponents than the mindless titans we create.”

“You're not so different.”

“Still not challenging enough for you?”

“If we had been on an equal playing field I would have escaped.”

“Yes, but that's the fundamental difference between titans and humans, isn't it? Humans don't play fair.” He stopped on Levi's left side, crouching down to have a look at his leg. “Hm, looks pretty bad. I've never been shot before, how does it feel?”

“It was worse the first time.” He bluffed.

“Oh, not your first time then. I wonder how much more it would hurt if I were to do this.” Zeke dug the scalpel into Levi's wound as he spoke, twisting and turning it until he screamed out in pain. “Sounds like it's pretty bad.”

“Fuck you.” Levi gasped, his breathing ragged from the pain that had been inflicted on him.

“Still quite a bit of fight left in you. I'm sure that will disappear rather quickly.”

“Like I said, I'm not telling you anything.” Levi spat, his hair hanging in his face as his head hung to his chest.

“We'll see.” Zeke smiled as he took a handful of Levi's hair and pulled his head back so that he was forced to look up at him. “You see, when a certain amount of pain is inflicted on a human, they'll eventually tell you what you want to know. Granted, you're special, so it may take a bit more severe methods than we're used to in order to get you to that point.”

“You're wasting your time.”

“I'm not so sure about that.” He placed the scalpel on Levi's forehead then, dragging it slowly across and letting blood flow into his eyes. Levi panted through the pain. That had been nothing compared to his leg. “What are you doing here, Levi?”

“I just came for a visit. Heard the weather is nice here this time of year.” He said sarcastically.

“Oh, you think you can joke your way through this. How amusing.” Zeke said, placing the scalpel back down on the tray and retrieving a pair of pliers instead. “Can you make a joke for every fingernail I pull off? That will be even more amusing.”

Levi's breathing picked up pace as Zeke moved closer to him with the pliers. He struggled a bit to move his hand, but it was no use. The pliers were clamped onto their first fingernail and steadily pulling.

“Why are you here, Levi?” He asked again, putting just enough resistance on the pliers to make pain shoot through Levi's hand and up his arm.

“There's no reason.” He gasped.

“That's bullshit.” Zeke pulled again and removed the first fingernail and Levi screamed. “Are you going to keep playing hard to get, Levi?”

“Sorry, I like the chase.” He panted, glaring at his torturer.

“Maybe we'll try another question, then.” He placed his pliers on the next fingernail. “Who else is with you?”

“They sent me alone.” Levi answered, and perhaps too quickly.

“You're lying.” Zeke pulled lightly on the pliers.

“I'm not! I'm not lying, that's the truth!” Levi looked directly at Zeke, keeping eye contact even through the blood that was in his eyes. He wanted to make him believe in this answer as fact.

“You just got through saying that you wouldn't tell me anything, and now you're giving me a free answer. I didn't even have to pull out another fingernail. Do you know what that tells me, Levi? It tells me that you're lying again.” Zeke released the fingernail and instead used the pliers to hit Levi in the face with all of his force. Levi spit blood onto the floor and glared back up at Zeke, not saying another word. “It seems like the fun is just getting started then.”

 

 

 

She went as fast as she could toward the forest that would lead her to the camp where the rest of the Scouts were hiding. She wasn't exactly sure where Levi had hidden the 3DM gear, but she had faith that she would be able to find it. After a moment of searching, she found soil that had been freshly dug up and she searched it to find all of the gear Levi had left there. She hurriedly equipped her gear and went as fast as she could toward where she remembered the camp to be. She dropped to the ground at the first watch tower she saw and realized that Sasha was on duty.

“Sasha! Where's Hanji? Armin? Anyone?” She asked as she started running through the camp.

“Mikasa, w-what are you doing here?” Sasha asked nervously, running alongside her.

“I need to talk to Hanji or Armin, Sasha, where the fuck are they?”

“This way.” Sasha said, leading Mikasa to the same building Levi had visited the night before.

“Mikasa?” Armin saw her as soon as she entered the building. “What's wrong?”

“They captured Levi. Reiner said that the higher ups told him they had him as a hostage. They're torturing him for information.” Mikasa replied, looking back and forth between Armin and Hanji.

“Do you know where he is?” Hanji asked, concern plain in her features.

“No.” Mikasa looked down, clearly distraught about her answer. “Reiner doesn't know where they're holding him, he just said that they're torturing him for information and that they're going to try and use him as a bargaining chip with you.”

“Do they know that you and Eren were there too?” Armin asked.

“Not as far as I know. Reiner said they didn't mention us. I don't think he'll talk but...Armin...I just want to get him out of there.” Mikasa's eyes filled with tears as she spoke to her long time friend, and he and Hanji both seemed to understand the subtext immediately. He didn't ask her details, it wasn't the time, but he knew that she wouldn't be that distraught over him if there wasn't something more going on than just the mission or friendship.

“Reiner can get more intel on where they might be holding him. They haven't even had him for 24 hours, Levi can last much longer than that in a scenario like this.” Hanji chimed in, eying Mikasa as she spoke.

“Hanji, they're torturing him. There has to be a faster way.” Mikasa pleaded.

“Until we know where he is we can't act. Armin, go back with her, hide out somewhere and make the calls for the group inside to rescue Levi. You should be able to devise a plan to get him out by sundown two days from now, wouldn't you say?”

“As long as Reiner can get me the information I need, I think I can do that.” He answered.

“Good. Report back then and we'll go from there.”

“Yes ma'am.” Armin said before saluting and leaving the camp with Mikasa.

“Armin...I need to tell you something.” Mikasa said as they made their way back to the entrance of the forest.

“What is it?” He asked, looking up at her as they made their way through the trees with their gear.

“Eren is different now. Since he spent time with the Marleyans he's become...less driven, I think. I just don't want you to be shocked when you see him. He's not the same person he used to be.”

“That's okay. Eren will always be the same person to me. That's not what I want to talk about, though.” He said, with a weak smile. “The way you were talking about Captain Levi, it reminded me of something. That's always the way you acted when Eren got taken away before. You lose your ability to reason and you panic, it's not like your usually calm demeanor. So, I guess what I'm trying to ask here is: are you and Levi more than what you'd like everyone else to believe?”

“It's complicated, Armin.”

“So you are. Is that why Eren is different now?”

“No! He was...upset when he found out about it, at first. But I think he understands now. He kept me waiting too long, Armin. I can't wait for him forever.”

“He doesn't have forever anyway. He's down to three years. I've been keeping track.”

“Yeah...” Mikasa sighed, her wounds from just days ago being ripped open anew.

“Well, now's not the time to think about this kind of thing. We can catch up later. Right now we need to save one of our senior Scouts from our enemies. Luckily we still have you.”

They went a bit further before they found the spot where they could leave their gear and made sure the coast was clear before heading to the gate where Reiner awaited them. He opened the gate for them and let them in, and he seemed shocked to see Armin with Mikasa when they came through.

“Hello Reiner.” Armin said, although he wasn't entirely sure that Reiner ever wanted to see him again. He had eaten his best friend, after all.

“Armin.” He said, his face expressionless. They quickly made their way back to the house and locked the door behind them before Armin started to talk again.

“Reiner, we need you to do us a favor if you can. Find out where Levi is being held.”

 

 

 

Another stab of pain jolted him from the sleep that he had fallen into what seemed like only moments ago. Although sleep was probably too strong of a word, in reality he had just lost consciousness from whatever pain Zeke had just gotten through inflicting on him. The pain stemmed from his leg, which was getting worse with every passing hour. He'd lost track of day and night since they put him here, and it had seemed like an eternity since then. Wherever he was, there was no natural light source. He just sat in eternal darkness until Zeke came back to torture him, then a single spotlight was turned on that hung above his head. The damage was minimal so far. His leg was fucked, most of his fingernails were gone, and there was a huge gash on his forehead, but it could have been much worse to start out with.

He let his head hang in front of him, the only thing keeping him sitting upright were the ropes that secured him to the chair. He was exhausted, physically and mentally, but there was no way he could sleep. Zeke came back frequently, keeping Levi's body from having time to rest, putting him through increasingly worse pain every time he returned, but he was nowhere close to cracking yet. He didn't know how long he had been there, but he knew he could stay alive and sane enough to buy his friends a bit more time to get him out.

It wasn't much longer before he heard footsteps in the hall again, the sound of keys clanging against the door as it was unlocked and opened, allowing light to pour into the room for a moment before it closed again. Then he heard the switch that turned on the spotlight, and he knew it was time again. He lifted his head slightly, squinting against the bright light above him.

“Hello again friend.” Zeke said as he walked over to Levi, a smile on his face. “Did you miss me?”

“I'm sure not as much as you missed me.” He answered.

“You're probably right about that. Are you ready for our next game?”

“Go to hell.”

“Well, that's just rude. You still haven't learned any manners.” Zeke walked over to the cart that held his tools and picked up a knife with a long, hooked blade that Levi hadn't had the pleasure of seeing yet. “Do you know what this is called?”

“A knife?” Levi spat, glaring up at Zeke.

“You've been here for this long and you still have fight left in you.” He laughed as he toyed with the blade. “You won't for much longer. This is called a flaying knife. Do you know what they're used for?”

Levi stayed silent. He didn't want to play these games anymore. He only continued to glare until Zeke spoke again.

“I'm going to use this to peel off our skin until you answer my questions. Let's start at the fingers.” He placed the knife right above where Levi's fingernail would end, if he still had any, on his index finger before looking at Levi again. “Where are the rest of your Scout friends hiding?”

“I told you, I came here alone.” Levi answered, watching the blade.

“And I told you that I know that you're lying. Are you really going to make me peel off your skin to get an answer out of you, Levi?”

“I gave you an answer!”

“Yes, it was just the wrong one.” Zeke held down Levi's forearm to keep him from struggling too much while he worked and cut through his skin with the thin blade. He almost couldn't feel any pain until the knife was removed, along with the skin off of the top of the first joint of his index finger. His breathing was ragged as Zeke held the flayed skin to his face to give him a good look at it. “Still not feeling talkative?”

“When I get free, I'll slice you up like I did at Shiganshina, except this time you won't get away.” Levi threatened through gasping breaths.

“You're really in no position to be threatening me.” Zeke laughed as he pressed the blade to the second joint of Levi's index finger. He was about to start cutting again when someone knocked on the door, interrupting his actions. He went over to see who was there and, after some mumbled arguing, he came back with someone else in tow. Levi looked up to see Reiner standing over him. The look on his face was a mix between anger and determination. “You remember Reiner, right? It seems that he heard about you being kept here and would like to have his own turn with you. I'm not one to ruin a good time, so I agreed.”

“Levi, you bastard!” Reiner shouted, taking a handful of his hair and pulling his head back sharply. Levi winced as he looked up at Reiner and realized exactly what was happening. He supposed this was payback for beating the shit out of Eren at his trail all those years ago.

“Traitor.” Levi answered, playing along.

“You're the reason that Bertholt is dead! If you wouldn't have been there that day we would have succeeded! Why won't you just admit defeat?” He asked, balling his fist and rearing back. Before Levi could answer Reiner punched him so hard that he thought it might have broken his jaw. He breathed heavily as he waited for more abuse. “And now you've come to our home. Did you come to finish the job? Are you here to kill me too?”

“It wouldn't be hard if you'd let me have a fair fight.” Levi answered through gasping breaths. Reiner released his hair and instead opted to punch him directly in the stomach this time, stealing the breath from his lungs. He gasped and coughed, struggling to catch his breath again before Reiner attacked him again, this time opting for pressure on his wounded leg. That was his weak spot, at the moment, and he couldn't help but scream at the pain it caused him. However, knowing that Reiner knew where he was now gave him hope. Now they could get to him to get him out of there.

“Do you think this is a game?” Reiner asked before her threw an uppercut at Levi, hitting him right under the chin and sending his head back against the chair with such force that he thought he might lose consciousness. His world was spinning as his head bobbed and rolled on his neck. He was too weak to hold it up on his own now. Reiner had beaten the shit out of him already and it didn't look like he was planning to stop. He threw a few more punches at his face before he turned the whole chair over, sending Levi crashing to the ground still attached to it, unable to catch his fall. His head hit the concrete floor hard before his world was once more consumed with darkness.

 

 

 

Mikasa hadn't slept at all since Levi had gone missing. Eren and Armin were both worried about her well being, but they knew that they wouldn't be able to convince her to try and sleep. She probably wouldn't sleep until Levi was back home safely and she had killed everyone that had kept him away for so long. It seemed like they had waited forever, but Reiner returned to the house a little after noon the day after Armin had asked him to find Levi.

“What did you find?” Mikasa sprang to her feet and moved toward Reiner as soon as he entered the house.

“I know where he is, but he won't be easy to get to. We're going to need everyone to help with this.” He answered, a strange look on his face.

“Where is he?”

“They're keeping him underground, so titan powers will be useless there. We're going to need everyone with 3DM gear and ready to fight whoever might be looking after him. I'm willing to bet that Galliard will be around there somewhere, and Zeke has been the one torturing him.”

“How did he look?” Mikasa asked, and Reiner couldn't meet her eyes when he answered.

“Not great. He's been shot, beaten, flayed...you name it. But strangely he looked...hopeful in a way. You could tell by looking at him that he hadn't been broken yet. He's real beat up, in no shape to fight, but he's not broken.”

“Armin, we can we go to get him?” Mikasa asked, gritting her teeth.

“We need time to come up with a good plan. At night fall I'll head back to the camp and talk with Hanji. We'll come back the following night and make our move then.” Armin answered, knowing that Mikasa wouldn't like what he said. She looked pained for a moment but nodded in agreement with the plan.

“Reiner, when you saw him...you said he's beaten up...do you think his body can hold out until we go to get him?” Mikasa asked, an almost child like quality to her voice.

“He won't die. They're keeping him alive on purpose, and I have the feeling that they'll live to regret it.” He answered.

“They won't live to regret anything, because I'm killing them all when I go to get him out of there.” She said with determination.

She didn't go with Reiner and Armin when it was time. She just stayed at the house, curled up in bed with the blankets and pillows that still smelled like Levi. She hated herself for having to leave him in that horrible place for as long as they had, but she'd been told over and over again that it was for the sake of the mission. Deep down she knew that was true, but that didn't help the ache she felt in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what they were doing to him. She heard a soft knock on the door and looked over to see Eren entering the room.

“Are you okay?” He asked, not moving past the door frame.

“I'm scared.” She said, hugging a pillow close to her chest.

“I've never seen you like this.”

“You were never around to see me this way because the only time I'm like this is when someone I love is in danger.”

“You won't have to worry any more after tomorrow. I'll help you get him back if I die trying to do it. We'll destroy the whole city and be done with it after this. No one will have to suffer any more.” Eren said with resolve. She wanted to believe him, she really did, but dismantling a whole society and destroying its leadership would be a lot easier said than done, especially with their strongest soldier out of commission. Reiner had said that Levi was in no condition to fight, and she was having her doubts about how they would win.

“Thank you, Eren.” She whispered.

“No problem, try to get some sleep, okay?” He said, backing out of the door.

“Wait, Eren!” She said quickly, freezing him in his tracks. “I know this is unfair to you, but...I just really need someone...” She trailed off as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she didn't have to finish. Eren understood what she needed. He walked into the room and sat on the side of the bed as she scrambled to him and clung tightly to his side. He pulled her closer, placing a hand on her head and letting her cry against his chest. She knew it had to be terrible for him, to watch her acting this way over another man, but he didn't seem to mind. If he did, would he even show her at this point? He let her cry until she exhausted herself and he laid her down on the bed and prepared to leave again, but she caught his hand.

“Mikasa.” He said, looking back at her.

“Please stay.” She asked. He climbed into the bed with her and let her lay against him until she fell asleep, then slipped out and went back to his makeshift bed on the sofa.


	6. Chapter 6

She hadn't left bed the whole day, at least not until it was time to get ready to go. Reiner let the whole force of the Scouts through the gate and they all gathered in Mikasa's house. When they had all gotten ready and geared, Hanji and Armin laid out their plans on the table.

“Mikasa, Eren, and Reiner, you'll go in to retrieve Levi. Once you've got him, retreat immediately. We need to keep him safe and out of harm's way while we finish the plan.” Hanji started.

“After that, I'll shift into the colossal titan and Reiner will shift into the armored. That should be enough to cause some chaos and cover for you to get far enough away with Levi. Eren will need to come back then and shift into the attack titan.” Armin explained further. “Hopefully this will all be enough to cause them to panic, and that will give us the upper hand. We just need to make sure we watch out for the other titan shifters while we carry out the plan. Zeke may be with Levi when you find him, but since he's underground he won't be able to shift. You should be able to get away quickly with your 3DM gear as well. We'll have the upper hand on several fronts if all goes as planned.”

“I've brought thunder spears with us as well, Jean and Conny will be in charge of those. If the two of you see another titan shift besides the ones that are working with us, you must go after them immediately and take them out. We can't afford to get into another clash of the titans situation in this small of a space. We'll need all hands on deck to completely take them out, so I'm counting on all of you to return to the battle once you've done your initial tasks.” Hanji stopped then and looked toward Mikasa. “That means you too. I know that Levi is a top priority, but you're our second best soldier, and an asset to the battle. We'll need you to be there with us.”

“I understand.” Mikasa answered blankly, preparing herself for battle.

“Reiner, smash as many buildings as you can after you shift, it will keep the chaos going.” Armin said, looking at Reiner. “I'll do the same while I'm in titan form.”

“What about Falco and Gabi?” He asked.

“Do you know where they are?”

“They should both be at home asleep. It won't be easy to convince them to come with us. They're completely brainwashed. It will take force.”

“So grab them while you're in your titan and carry them away. It's not like they can protest much at that point.” Jean chimed in from the back of the room. Tensions were high, and the mission wasn't the only reason. Most of the Scouts were finding it hard to trust Reiner again after what had happened, regardless of how many times Hanji assured them that he was on their side.

“That should do the trick, actually.” Hanji said with a smile. “It's up to you to get them, Reiner, since we don't know where they're located.”

“Fine.” He answered.

“Remember, we're trying to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible. Cause lots of chaos, and raze their society to the ground. Move quietly above the rooftops until we get where we need to go. Everyone stays covert until Mikasa, Eren, and Reiner get out with Levi, and then the fun begins.” Hanji smiled wide as she finished her statement, leaning on the table to look over her plans. Everyone nodded as she looked up at them, and the plan was set into action.

 

 

 

No one had come to hurt him any more for a while, and he was starting to wonder what had happened. Usually they came back before he had time to sleep, but he had dozed off twice before the pain woke him up again, and they hadn't returned. Everything hurt now, not just his leg. Reiner had given him a beating that he wouldn't soon forget, and he wondered how he must look. _Disgusting_. He thought, answering his own question. Blood caked his forehead and hands, and there was so much of it soaking through his pants that he knew they would never come clean again. Of course he was thinking about cleaning now, of all things, but it was the only thing that could really keep his mind occupied. He heard a sound outside and prepared for the worst before he recognized what it was. It was faint, but the sound that he'd heard had been the whirr of a 3DM device retracting the metal wires that propelled the user. He looked up at the door, his mouth hanging open as it was kicked in to reveal Mikasa, Eren and Reiner rushing in.

“Mikasa...” He said in a whisper as she rushed toward him.

“Levi!” She shouted, cutting him free immediately. He fell foreword against her, unable to hold himself up due to exhaustion.

“I'm supposed to be the one keeping you safe, you damn brat.” He wheezed as she held him up to inspect his injuries.

“Shut up you idiot!” She yelled at him before turning to Reiner. “Reiner, put him on my back, we need to go!”

“Right!” Reiner rushed over and helped position Levi on Mikasa's back while Eren kept watch at the door.

“I need you to hold on, Levi, I can't keep you from falling and use my gear.” She said, looking back at him. His head rested on her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her neck tightly. He didn't have much strength left, but he would use all of it to make sure he escaped the hell he'd been living in here. They moved quickly through hallways and up stair cases before they encountered their first foe, but he was quickly dispatched by Eren and they kept moving. They burst through a door at the end of the corridor and Levi felt the cool night air hit his face as they retreated to higher ground.

“Where do we take him?” Eren asked frantically as they flew over the rooftops. Levi heard the distinct sound of a titan shift and looked back to see two lightning bolts hit the ground. Through the steam he saw the colossal and armored titans rise above the city and immediately start wreaking havoc. Eren and Mikasa just kept going, not looking back.

“Oi, Mikasa, you need to be back there fighting too.” Levi said.

“We're taking you somewhere safe first. It's part of the plan. I'll go back when I know you'll be okay.” She answered.

“Go to the camp. They still don't know where it is, right?” He asked, struggling to speak loud enough to be heard over the rushing air as they flew.

“Yes, you should be fine there until we're done.”

“Let's go then!” Eren said, swinging past Mikasa and making for the forest. It was then that they heard another crack and looked back to see another titan taking form. It was one that they'd never seen before, and they hoped Reiner would know how to counter it. They landed at the camp not long after they'd seen the third titan appear, and rushed to the nearest barracks they could find. Mikasa laid Levi on a bed gently and paused to look over his injuries. He was hurt badly, she didn't have to look long to tell that. His leg needed urgent medical attention, along with several other cuts on his face and neck. His fingernails were gone, all but one on his left hand, and the skin had been removed from several of his fingers.

“I'll kill them all for this.” Mikasa growled, placing a hand on his chest. He even winced at that, and she withdrew quickly.

“Broken ribs.” He said, looking up at her. Eren had left to stand just outside the building, giving them a bit of privacy. “Will you be okay if I go back?”

“It doesn't matter, you don't have a choice. Follow your orders.” He insisted, reaching up to touch her face. She looked down at him with such desperation in her eyes that he thought she might try to give up on the mission, but the desperation was replaced by determination almost immediately.

“Don't you fucking dare die on me while I'm fighting these people.” She commanded, leaning down to kiss him quickly before heading toward the door.

“Give them hell, and make sure you get rid of the giant ape first. He's the one that did this.” He urged. She gave him a nod before exiting the room, closing the door behind her.

“Let's go, Eren.” She said as she zipped back toward Marley. When they got back, Eren wasted no time transforming into his titan and joined Reiner and Armin in the battle almost immediately, catching the enemy titan by surprise. It already looked like it was struggling when they'd arrived back at the battle, but now it was backed into a corner. Reiner charged at it and tackled it against a building before it tried to bite down on him. He evaded it narrowly as Eren moved in on them. Armin just kept swinging his arms, demolishing buildings and anything else that stood in his way. Another flash lit up the night and the cartman titan appeared, running full speed toward the battle. However, it wasn't paying attention to Mikasa. She zipped in for the kill and landed a perfect blow on the nape, exposing the girl that was inside. The girl looked terrified as Mikasa plunged her swords through her skull and the titan collapsed immediately.

“Nice work, Mikasa!” Hanji shouted from a nearby rooftop. “Find the beast!”

She looked around then, hoping to find the monster that had been inflicting so much pain on Levi and that seemed hellbent on destroying their world, but it was nowhere to be seen. Surely he would appear to defend his country in the face of an attack, but where? She decided it would be better to help Eren and Reiner at the moment and zipped toward them. Reiner struggled with the titan that could only be the jaw titan as Eren came from behind and yanked it off of him. He threw the jaw titan and pinned it to the ground, but it didn't give Mikasa a good angle to cut the person out of it.

“Eren, I can't get to the nape!” She shouted as she whizzed around them, trying desperately to find an opening. “Reiner, we've got this, go find Falco and Gabi!”

Reiner nodded and dashed off in the direction he knew his two small friends would be and Mikasa turned her attention back to Eren. He was struggling to get the jaw titan turned in a way that would expose its neck and she was running out of patience.

“Jean! Conny!” She shouted their names, desperately looking for them before Jean showed up.

“What is it? Do you need help?” He asked as he looked around at the situation.

“Use your thunder spears to break its jaw. We can get through to the nape that way, the same way we did with Reiner in Shiganshina. Avoid Eren as best you can.”

“Got it!” Jean said before he charged in whit his thunder spears. His first one hit home, decimating one side of the titan's jaw. He turned around and went in again, another success. Eren didn't wast any time after that. He shoved his hand through the jaw titan's mouth and straight through to the nape, ripping the human out and staring him down. He looked completely terrified in the face of an enemy titan as he struggled feebly against his grasp.

“Eat him, Eren!” Hanji shouted from a nearby rooftop. Eren turned to her, shocked at what she had just said. “If you eat him you gain his powers too! Take the titan power away from them for good!”

Eren hesitated for a moment, but did as he was told. It was strange for him, but he could feel the power of a new titan, along with all its memories, surge through his body.

“Hanji, the beast titan hasn't appeared.” Mikasa yelled to her commanding officer as she met up with her on a rooftop.

“You haven't seen him anywhere?” She asked. “Not even in human form?”

“No, he's nowhere to be found.”

“Reiner's coming back!” Sasha yelled as she landed on Eren's shoulder.

“We need to get out.” Hanji said, zipping over to Armin in his titan form and communicating the plan. His titan disappeared almost immediately and he returned to the group with Hanji. Eren turned back into a human as well, but Reiner stayed in titan form to better carry Gabi and Falco away from the battle. Mikasa looked back at the devastation they'd left in their wake, but she knew as long as the beast titan lived they would still be in danger.

It took longer than she would have liked to reach the camp again, and she was the first one into the barracks when they arrived. She burst in the door of the room she'd left Levi in to find him looking back at her. She hadn't expected him to be conscious, but he smiled as she made her way over to him.

“You're alive.” He said as he stared into her eyes. “How did it go?”

“I couldn't find the ape, but I promise you I'll find him as soon as we get you taken care of.”

“He's hiding. He'll show up again soon.” Levi said, reaching up to cup her face. She leaned down to kiss him and, for the first time since he'd gone missing, she felt like everything would be okay, at least for a while.

“Um, I'm sorry to interrupt...” Hanji's voice came from the door and Mikasa broke the kiss quickly to look up at her.

“I'm here for Levi's checkup.” She said with a smile.

“You would have to be the one to do this. I'm not one of your shitty titan experiments, so don't go poking around in places you don't belong.” Levi scowled as Hanji moved closer to him. Mikasa moved out of the way but stayed in the room. She wanted to see the damage, no matter how much it bothered her. She needed to know what exactly they'd done to him so that she could inflict it on them tenfold.

“You don't give me enough credit, Levi. I'm a woman of science, I can be professional.”

“I've never seen it.” He laughed.

“Can you sit up on your own?” She asked, watching as he struggled but ultimately failed to do so. She offered him a hand and pulled him to an upright position, and he hissed as pain racked his body. Mikasa could see that he was having trouble maintaining the position by himself, so she crawled into the bed and sat behind him to support him. Hanji inspected his left thigh first. “They shot you.”

“No shit, four eyes.” Levi snapped back.

“It's starting to get infected, we'll need to clean it and remove debris. Let me see your hands.” She commanded, and Levi did as he was asked, holding his hands out so that she could examine them. “The nails will grow back slowly, but you'll need to keep an eye on your fingers. Flaying is designed to keep the victim alive, but it doesn't fight infection. We'll need to keep them cleaned and dressed until they heal properly.”

“How did you survive all this?” Mikasa asked quietly as she watched Hanji continue to look over his hands and arms.

“I knew you'd come to get me, I just needed to hold out long enough.” Levi said, half turning his head back so that he could look at her. Hanji grabbed his jaw and turned his head back to face her then, disregarding the glare that he was giving her, and moved his hair away from his forehead.

“This gash is deep, and all the way across your forehead. They did it as soon as you got there, right? It's already begun to heal a bit, but it's too big to heal on its own. It needs stitches. You have a severe amount of bruising around your eyes and face, as well. Looks like you took a hell of a beating.”

“Pliers are just as effective when used to bash in someone's skull as they are to pull out fingernails, I've learned.” He answered.

“We need to get your shirt off and look at the damage to your torso. Mikasa, help me out.” Hanji said. Mikasa pulled up the edge of Levi's shirt and helped him to get it over his head. She could tell it hurt him to move his body that way, though, and tried to be as gentle as possible. When it was out of the way, she could see just how much damage they'd done to him. His torso was marked with angry, deep purple bruises that stretched over almost every inch of skin. The worst of them were over his ribs.

“Shit...Levi...” Hanji said as she gazed down at his body. She reached up to touch his ribs and he flinched away almost immediately. “Several broken ribs...maybe some internal bleeding. Did they beat you with a pipe? The amount of force that must have been needed for something like this...”

“They did a lot of things.” He answered, but didn't say much more than that. He knew that his broken ribs and most of the damage to his torso was probably caused by Reiner, but he couldn't tell that to Mikasa. He knew that Reiner was only doing that in order to save him, but he didn't have faith that Mikasa would see it that way.

“I'll go get some bandages and my tool kit and be right back to fix you up.” Hanji said before she left the room.

“They'll pay for it.” Mikasa said quietly, resting her head lightly on his shoulder as she spoke.

“What happened during the battle?” Levi asked, his voice unwaveringly strong despite the shape he was in.

“I killed the cartman titan as soon as I got back to the battle. Armin demolished most of the Marleyan's structures and buildings, and Jean and Eren worked together to kill the jaw titan. In the end he ate him to gain his powers.” Mikasa explained.

“And Gabi and Falco?”

“Reiner got them out. They should be around here somewhere. He said it would be hard to explain what was happening to them. Apparently they've been pretty brainwashed. It will take some time to revert that.”

“Hanji can do it.” Levi said matter-of-factly. “But Zeke never showed?”

“No.” Mikasa said in a sad tone. “But he'll pay.”

Hanji walked back into the room then carrying a large bag at her side. She pulled a chair over to the side of the bed so that she sat directly in front of Levi.

“Okay, Levi, I hope you're ready. This won't be fun.” She said in an apologetic tone. “We'll need to get your pants off so I can see the wound on your leg better. Do you think there's any shrapnel left inside?”

“The bullets that they have are designed to break apart in whatever it hits. I can almost guarantee that there's shrapnel inside.” He answered. Mikasa lifted him gently as Hanji removed his pants, giving her a better look at his wound. It was swollen and red around the edges and seemed to hurt if anything even touched near it.

“That's not good news for you then. I know it's irritated just by looking at it, but we're going to have to get the shrapnel out. Here.” Hanji dug around in her bag and pulled out a bottle of vodka and a long leather belt and handed them both to him. “I have another one in here, you need to drink as much of that one as you can. The belt is for you to bite down on so that you don't scream.”

He took a deep breath and then opened the bottle, downing most of it immediately. Hanji used a damp cloth to wipe the dried blood and dirt away from the surrounding area of the wound while he drank. It seemed like it still hurt him, but it would be nothing compared to what came next. Once he'd finished the bottle he put the leather belt in his mouth and bit down, his gaze fixed on Hanji.

“Mikasa, I'm going to need you to hold him still. He's going to try to struggle away from the pain but you need to keep him right where he is.” Hanji said, looking over Levi's shoulder to acknowledge her. She nodded and put her arms under his, wrapping them around so that she had a good hold, locking her fingers behind his head to ensure that he couldn't struggle out of her grasp. Hanji then took out some padded restraints to secure Levi's feet so that he couldn't subconsciously kick her while she worked, and secured them in place. “Ready Levi?”

He nodded again, closing his eyes before Hanji opened the next bottle of vodka and poured it over the wound. That alone was enough to make him sharply inhale as the alcohol seeped into the wound. Next she pulled a long pair of tweezers from her bag and equipped a head lamp before she went to work. Levi rolled his head back, resting it against Mikasa's shoulder as she knelt behind him, but his eyes stayed firmly closed as Hanji dug into his leg to try and locate the shrapnel inside. Mikasa could hear him struggling against the restraints on his legs and his body tensing as she held him in place, but it wasn't long before he lost consciousness altogether.

“Hanji!” Mikasa said, alarmed as his body fell limp in her arms.

“I know. He's been through a lot of pain, Mikasa, and this is just more of the same. His body can't take it. It'll be easier for him if he isn't awake for it anyway.” She tried to reassure Mikasa, but it didn't really help. It seemed like it took an eternity for Hanji to finish her work on his leg, but she did it and applied antiseptics and bandages before moving on to his ribs. Before she was done, almost his entire torso was covered in bandages. “You can lay him back down now.”

“Hanji...he'll be okay, right?” Mikasa asked as she laid Levi down on the bed and moved off of it to allow her to work better.

“He's been through a lot, but he's an Ackerman. It's hard to kill you bastards.” She smiled and patted Mikasa's shoulder before she continued her work. She bandaged his hands and arms before moving up to his forehead, stitching the wound there closed before bandaging it as well. He looked horrible, but at least he was safe with them now.

“How long do you think he'll be out of commission?” Mikasa asked, worried that Marley would start looking for them. They really weren't that far away from the confines of the society. If they sent scouting parties out they would be found in no time.

“He won't be able to use 3DM gear for a while, but as long as he gets rest and some food in his system he should be able to walk in a couple days. Just keep an eye on him.” She gathered her dirty supplies and walked over to a sink that was nearby to wash them off. “He should sleep for a while, you should get something to eat while he does. And check on Eren.”

“Okay.” Mikasa answered, looking down at Levi as he slept. He had a pained expression on his face even in sleep, but she knew that would probably be the case for a while. His body was completely wrecked, and it would take time to heal. She followed Hanji out of the room, turning back once more to look at him before she closed the door behind her.

It didn't take long to find Eren, he had been outside of the barracks leaning against the wall with Armin by his side when she exited. He looked concerned, but smiled when he saw her.

“How's he doing?” He asked, turning to face her.

“Hanji fixed him up but he's sleeping now. He's been through a lot.” Mikasa answered. “How are you doing?”

“I'm fine.” Eren answered, but it was too short and simple to be the truth. He'd just eaten another human being on purpose, that couldn't sit well in his heart.

“Eren didn't sustain any injuries during the mission.” Armin added, the marks of his titan transformation still fresh around his eyes.

“I'm glad you're both okay.” She smiled, tilting her head to the side as she looked at them both.

“We should be able to head back to Paradis soon. Hanji says that Levi will be well enough to travel in a couple days.”

“Yeah, she said it's amazing how much his body withstood while they had him.”

“Levi's strong, he wouldn't let a couple days of torture kill him.” Eren added, and it was clear that he believed every word of what he said.

“Have either of you checked in on Reiner?” Mikasa asked, looking around for him. She couldn't find him, and thought he was probably in one of the other buildings with Falco and Gabi.

“Hanji told him to keep the two Marleyan children that he brought back with him in her room until she was done caring for Levi. We could go and check in on them now, if you want.” Armin said, moving in the direction of the building Hanji's room was in. Mikasa and Eren followed him without saying another word, and they opened the door to shouting.

“Reiner, you traitor! I thought you cared about us! About our cause!” Gabi was berating Reiner as he held her still to keep her from attacking him.

“Gabi, this is for your own good! You don't understand what they're doing!” Reiner yelled back. Falco seemed relatively calm as he sat in the corner, watching the whole scene play out, and only seemed scared when Mikasa, Eren, and Armin entered the room.

“Great! More Eldian devils! Are you going to let them torture us for information, Reiner? Have you handed us over to the enemy?!”

“We don't want to hurt you, Gabi.” Armin chimed in as he closed the door to the room.

“How can I believe anything you say?!”

“The place where you were raised wanted to turn you into a weapon. That's what happened to Reiner, and Bertholt, and all of your other friends that are now dead. Your government turned them into nothing more than tools for them to use, all in the name of genocide. Do you really want to be a part of something like that?”

“Why should I believe you? Magath told us that we were bringing glory to our country by following their orders. He said that it was a great honor to be chosen to inherit the power of the titans.”

“That might be true to an extent, but he was only using you for his own gain. Can't you see, to them you were all just weapons. They put no value on your lives.”

“Reiner, is it true?” She asked, looking up at Reiner as he held her. He didn't say anything, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that everything she'd been told was the truth. “How could you just go along with it then?”

“I didn't have a choice, Gabi. Just like you and Falco didn't have a choice. It was either do what they said or die. That's our only purpose anyway, to die for the sake of Marley. I had to get you two out of there before it happened to you too.” Reiner answered, his voice shaky. It was the first time that Reiner had ever sounded truly weak, like all of the confidence and fight had been sucked out of his body. “If you come with us you'll be able to live a normal life. You won't have to be a soldier in an army, and you won't have your life span shortened. You can grow up and find someone to love and grow old with, and have a better life than me.”

“Reiner.” Falco said from the corner of the room as he walked toward him. He threw his small arms around Reiner's much larger torso and hugged tightly. “Thank you.”

“I'll teach the two of you to use 3DM gear before we have to leave. I have the feeling you'll catch on quickly.” Mikasa chimed in, trying her best not to look intimidating. Gabi seemed to look at her as if she'd found a new idle before Reiner released her.

“Thanks!” The two children said in unison, seeming genuinely excited for their training. They reminded her so much of Eren when he was younger that it almost hurt her heart to watch them.

“Reiner, why don't you take them to get something to eat?” Armin suggested. Reiner nodded and the two children followed him out of the room and ran happily down the hall to exit the building.

“That went better than I expected.” Eren said as he leaned against the wall. “I think what really sold them is that you offered to teach them to use 3DM gear, Mikasa.”

“They'll need to know how to use it if they're going to live with us.” She answered. “Plus, I think it will be nice to spend some time with them. They seem like good kids.”

“Do they remind you of anyone?” Armin asked with a smile and Mikasa blushed at what he was implying.

“Just like us when we were younger.” Eren smiled.

“Shut up.” Mikasa ordered with a smile as she walked over and hugged her friend tightly.

“Do you guys wanna go get some food too? I'm starving.” Armin said as they all walked down the hallway together.

“I'm not very hungry, I think I'm gonna stay with Levi for a while.” Mikasa answered.

“You still have to eat, Mikasa.” Eren urged, a worried look on his face.

“I know, I'll get something later, I promise. I can never eat right after a battle anyway. You guys go ahead without me.” They parted ways then and she returned to Levi's side, sitting in the chair that Hanji had used when she was caring for him. She looked over him as he laid there, still unconscious and breathing lightly as he slept. It was still unreal to her what had happened in the past few days. She'd never thought that anyone could manage to hurt him like that, but it was blatantly obvious that he wasn't the superhuman machine that everyone back home thought of him as. She saw him shiver and pulled a blanket up over his body before her exhaustion from two nights without sleep got to her and she dozed off in her chair.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is fluffy and cheesy and funny right up until the point where it isn't. I needed to throw something fun and silly in the mix to be able to focus on what needs to happen next, so I hope you still enjoy it. The next chapters will probably begin to get a lot darker, so here's a little lightheartedness before all that happens.
> 
> Special thanks to Shadowsfire for suggesting some interesting ideas and concepts that I'll probably be using here soon as well.

He woke up and glanced to the side to see Mikasa sleeping in a chair by his bed. Looking around the room further he saw a tray of food sitting on the desk in the corner and some extra blankets piled beside it. Someone had also come in and draped a blanket over her shoulders. He laughed a bit to himself at her commitment to making sure he was okay before he reached over and touched her hand. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked up at him sleepily.

“Good morning.” He said, looking up at her from his position on the bed.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as she shifted in her seat and rubbed her neck with her free hand.

“Sore, but better.” He answered. It was amazing what a little rest could do for the healing process. When he was still a captive they didn't let his body rest, and it made the pain worse, now he felt like he might even be able to get up and walk on his own with little trouble.

“Are you hungry?”

“Are you? It doesn't seem like you ate anything last night. How long did you go without sleep?”

“The whole time you were gone.” She said, not trying to hide the truth from him, she knew it would be no use anyway.

“Both of us can't be insomniacs.” He said, pushing himself gently to a sitting position. He winced a little as he did it, but in the end the pain was much less than yesterday. “And did you eat anything yesterday?”

“No.” She said, looking down at her hands that were folded in her lap.

“Let's go get breakfast then.” He said, pushing the blanket off of his body and swinging his legs off of his bed, planting his feet firmly on the floor.

“Levi, you shouldn't be getting up.” Mikasa protested, rising to her feet so suddenly that her chair fell backwards and crashed to the floor. She steadied him as he continued to make his way out of the bed and onto his feet.

“I'm not gonna lay around in bed all day. How boring.” He said, looking around the room for clothes. Mikasa went to a small armoire and retrieved a Scout uniform for him, then helped him into it, excluding the belts for the 3DM gear that he wouldn't be able to use anyway. She helped him tie his cravat and eased him into his jacket before he tried to take a step foreword and almost fell flat on his face.

“See, I told you that you need to stay in bed.” She urged as she caught him and draped his arm around her shoulders. She steadied him with an arm around his waist, trying to avoid the injured areas of his torso.

“I'll be fine, you're helping me. I'm not staying in here. Let's go get breakfast.” He insisted. She looked at him for a moment before he stared at her long enough for her to cave and she helped him out of the barracks. He had a pretty severe limp as he walked, but otherwise he seemed to be in pretty high spirits.

“Heichou.” Eren blinked as he saw the two of them walking through the camp and rushed to their side to walk with them. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Going for a walk.” He answered. Mikasa could hear the strain in his voice as he willed his body foreword with her help.

“Don't you think you should rest?” Eren asked sheepishly.

“What is it with you brats trying to keep me in bed today?” He snapped.

“It's just...Hanji said you needed rest so...”

“Hanji doesn't know what I need. What I need is a hot meal and some black tea.”

“Eren it's no use, he's too stubborn for his own good. I tried to get him to stay in bed but he wouldn't listen to me either.” Mikasa explained as they neared a building with smoke rising from the chimney. They could smell the food before they even entered. When they got in the building everyone there stopped what they were doing and stared at them. Mikasa shot a sidelong glance at Levi and Eren before pushing forward and finding a place to sit. When he was dressed, Levi didn't look nearly as injured as he actually was, all of his most sever injuries were under his clothes, hidden from view, but that didn't stop everyone from staring all the same. Armin was the first to approach them after they got settled into their seats.

“Heichou, how are you feeling?” He asked, saluting his superior before he sat down across the table from him.

“I'll live.” Levi answered, looking around the room at all of the pairs of eyes that were fixed on him. “Oi, all you brats better mind your own damn business before I come over there and make you.”

“You're making promises you can't keep, Heichou.” Eren laughed as everyone averted their gazes and returned to their food.

“The important thing is that they don't know that.” He answered.

“What do you want, I'll go get it for you.” Mikasa asked, leaning against the table.

“Black tea, and rice. Hanji says I shouldn't eat much yet.”

“Now you decide to listen to Hanji?”

“Just go get me some tea.” He said, scowling. She laughed and moved away, and he watched her as she went, a small smile spreading across his face.

“I think I'm gonna barf.” Eren said as he pressed his hand to his mouth in mock disgust at Levi's small display of affection.

“Shut your mouth, brat.” Levi said, turning his attention to Eren. “And if you're gonna barf go somewhere else. Disgusting.”

“You really love her, don't you, Heichou?” Armin chimed in again, his eyes wide as the revelation hit him. “Mikasa told me a little before we rescued you but...I didn't know it was this serious.”

“Does that bother you?” He asked, not answering the question.

“I'm glad to see that the two of you are happy. Especially Mikasa. I'm not sure I remember the last time she actually, genuinely smiled.”

“Me too.” Levi smiled again and Eren made heaving noises at his side until he pushed him off the bench. Eren only laughed and returned to his seat before Mikasa returned with the food items Levi had requested, along with a plate of food for herself.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” She asked as she took a seat beside Levi.

“Levi was just telling us how much he loves you, sorry if we're staring.” Eren said, earning another shove from Levi. He braced himself for the force and managed to stay in his seat this time around. Mikasa blushed as she glanced at Levi and he rolled his eyes. She set the teacup and a small bowl of rice on the table in front of him and placed her own food down as well.

“Thanks.” Levi said, immediately moving for the tea instead of the rice. The truth was that he still couldn't really bear to think about eating. The warm tea soothed the pain that he felt throughout his body, but he felt that if he ate anything he might be sick.

“When do you think Marley will try to retaliate?” Eren asked suddenly, jolting everyone from their peaceful state.

“Eren, I think everyone needs some time to move past what just happened before we talk about that.” Armin said, looking at Eren with a concerned expression.

“Do you think they're just going to sit around and wait until we're ready?”

“Eren is right. I'm sure they're trying to think of a strategy already.” Levi added as he picked at his rice. “They aren't going to wait for me to heal and they aren't going to wait until we have enough time to leave.”

“Armin did a lot of damage to their buildings and structures, and we killed two of their titan shifters. It's going to take them time to regroup.” Mikasa said, looking around the table.

“They'll be sending out scouts, I'm sure, and there's no way we can hide which way Reiner ran while he was in his titan form. I'm sure there are footprints leading all the way here.” Armin added. “It couldn't be helped though, it was the easiest way to get Falco and Gabi here. Heichou, do you think you'll be able to ride a horse by tomorrow?”

“If I have to, I can try.” Levi answered, unsure of his own answer.

“Are you stupid?” Mikasa berated him. “You can barely walk or even move without pain, and you think you'll be able to ride a horse by tomorrow? We need a wagon.”

“There will be wagons once we get back to Paradis, but we have to travel quite a distance before we can get to the boats that will take us there.”

“One of us could shift and carry him, at least then we'd still be able to move quickly.” Eren suggested.

“That would work. I'm sure they know that we're going to be heading back home soon. If they follow footprints to the ocean it won't tell them anything they don't already assume. Eren, you and Reiner can take turns carrying him. Neither of you have enough stamina to make it all the way by yourself, and I can't move fast enough to keep up with horses in my titan form. It's the only way we'll be able to do it. Are you okay with that plan, Heichou?”

“It sounds fine to me. I'll have it easy on the way home.” Levi answered.

“Levi! You're up and about already?” Hanji's voice rang through the room as she entered and practically ran over to them to sit down. “Oh, you're healing even faster than I thought you would! You certainly aren't just a normal person are you? I'd like to know more about your special bloodline and genes if you'll let me do experiments one day.”

“Not even in your dreams, four eyes.” Levi answered, taking another small bite of rice. Hanji's happiness left her like a deflating balloon as she turned to the others at the table.

“Eren, how are you feeling today? Can you feel a difference in your body after eating that other titan shifter?”

“I felt something when I did it, but...I just feel normal now.” Eren answered, feeling a bit uncomfortable about the line of questioning. He still hadn't really had time to process that he had eaten another human being. It was almost as if he were more titan than human now.

“Do you have his memories?”

“I...I'm sure they're in here somewhere, but...I can't really remember anything new. Sorry, Hanji.” He apologized, scratching the back of his head as he averted his eyes.

“That's okay, Eren, I'm sure they'll come to you soon.” Hanji smiled and turned her attention back to Levi. “Levi, how's your body feeling today?”

“Better than before you rescued me.” He answered, sipping his tea.

“Were you able to put weight on your leg already?”

“I helped him here, Hanji. He shouldn't be out of bed.” Mikasa scolded him as she told Hanji about their morning.

“It's hard to keep Levi down for very long, Mikasa, you'll have to learn that if you're going to be involved with him.” Hanji said with a smile. Levi and Mikasa both froze at her sudden announcement, and they could feel everyone's eyes on them again.

“Hanji, you talk too loud you fucking idiot.” Levi said with a sigh.

“Oh, was it a secret? I'm sorry, Levi, I thought it was common knowledge by the way the two of you have been acting.”

“Guess that secret's out now, then?” Eren asked laughing almost too hard to talk. He dodged a swipe at his head from Levi and moved to the other side of the table with Armin.

“Watch your mouth, Eren.” Levi scowled.

“But still, you are kind of robbing the cradle with this one. Petra was bad enough, she was six years younger than you, but Mikasa is young enough to be your daughter.” Hanji added. If looks could have killed, the way Levi was staring at her now would have annihilated her.

“Hanji, Petra and I were not a couple, for the thousandth time.” The words came out in what could only be described as a growl.

“Oh, I'm just picking on you. You're always so serious, can't you take a joke?”

“No.” He deadpanned. He looked up to see Jean approaching their table out of the corner of his eye, but he walked straight to Mikasa, ignoring everyone else.

“Uh, Mikasa, can I talk to you for a second?” He asked nervously. His face was flushed and he seemed on the verge of a panic attack.

“Sure, Jean, what do you need?” She asked, not moving from her spot beside Levi.

“M-maybe alone?” He asked again.

“I guess that's fine.” She said, pushing herself up from the bench and then looking at Levi. “Finish your rice please, and don't try to move until I get back.”

“Fine.” He said, taking up his chopsticks again and toying with his rice. Mikasa began to walk away with Jean when they heard Hanji's voice calling out from behind him.

“Don't do anything flirtatious Jean, Levi will probably kill you if you speak to Mikasa the wrong way.”

“Can it, four eyes!” Levi yelled. The commotion of the cafeteria faded as they walked out of the building and stopped close to the center of camp.

“Listen, Mikasa, I just wanted to let you know...I think it's kinda weird that you're...doing whatever you're doing with Captain Levi.” He stumbled through his sentence without looking at her. “There are a lot of guys that are closer to your own age around you know. Don't you think you would be happier with m-I mean...one of us?”

“What I do in my private life really isn't any of your concern, Jean.” Mikasa said, slightly offended by what he was suggesting.

“Well yeah...I just...you know I've always liked you, ever since we started training as cadets. You've never even given me a second thought, though. First it was Eren, now it's Levi...neither of them seem to be a good match.”

“So you're saying you think you would be better for me?” Mikasa asked, glaring at him now. The fact that he had the nerve to say even this much baffled her. Didn't he know that she could kick his ass in a heartbeat?

“I...I don't know, maybe? I just think you're being weirdly influenced or something. I mean, why would you pick Levi over...anyone else?” He was gaining more courage every time he spoke, no doubt thinking his actions were justified.

“I think our conversation is over.” Mikasa said, turning to leave.

“Wait!” Jean grabbed her hand, but she wasn't in the mood. She, in turn, grabbed his forearm and flipped him, leaving him on the ground staring up at her.

“Next time think before you impose your views on me, Jean. It'll save you some pain.” She left him lying on the ground and stormed back into the cafeteria obviously fuming.

“Uh, Levi, I don't think you'll have to kill him. It looks like she already has.” Hanji said as Mikasa took her seat next to Levi again.

“What...?” Levi started, but he was interrupted.

“He says it's creepy that I love you and that he would be a better choice for me.”

“Oh my god, you did kill him.” Eren said, turning toward the door just in time to see Jean walk in, still alive albeit visibly in pain. Everyone audibly breathed a sigh of relief. He avoided any eye contact with Mikasa or Levi as he sulked back to his seat next to Sasha and Conny.

 

 

 

He walked through the rubble of the city that they called home, but the devils from Paradis had turned it to ash. He was at the epicenter of the attack now, but he wished he had been there when it was happening. It had been a rescue mission for the Ackerman they'd captured, and they hadn't expected a thing. What was worse was the fact that Reiner had betrayed them and taken up arms with the very people he had sworn to help them destroy. Zeke gritted his teeth at the thought of it. He'd been briefed on the specifics of what happened when he got back from the recon mission to Paradis that they'd sent him on the day before. Magath walked with him as he took in the scale of what had happened.

“There's one more thing I need to show you.” Magath said as he lead Zeke to the very same spot that he'd been holding Levi before. There was a bed set up in the room, along with more lights and medical equipment. When Zeke walked over to the bed he saw Pieck, bandaged and breathing with the help of a machine, but breathing all the same. When she saw him she removed the oxygen mask from her face long enough to speak with him.

“Zeke, where is Galliard?” She asked, her voice a whisper as she struggled to get her words out. Zeke didn't know what to say to her. He'd just been told that Galliard had been eaten by Eren Yeager in order to gain his power, but how was he supposed to tell her that? He looked at her for a long time, contemplating what he could possibly say. He knew she would be devastated to hear of Galliard's demise and, and he wondered if she could take the news in her current state.

“Pieck, what happened to you?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

“That girl with the black hair, she tried to kill me. I was trying to help Galliard after Reiner turned on him. I was so focused on him that I didn't see her coming. I had to transfer my consciousness and dissolve my titan to keep from being killed.” Her hand rose to her neck where Mikasa's blades had struck her. “Did Galliard get away?”

“Pieck...Galliard didn't make it...” Zeke said, watching her reaction closely.

“W-what do you mean?” She asked.

“Galliard was eaten by Eren Yeager. He's gone...”

“No!” She struggled with the word as if it had caught in her throat. It sounded strangled and weak, but he knew how her heart was aching, how her anger rose from the pit of her stomach. He knew because he'd felt it when Magath told him. “We have to do something! Where are they?”

“We haven't located them yet.”

“I want them dead! I'll do it myself if I have to! I want Eren Yeager's head for what he's done to us! To Galliard! I want them all dead!”

“You're not the only one that wants revenge, Pieck. Levi Ackerman has made a fool of me once again. We both have scores to settle. We'll strike them with everything we have soon, but you need to heal if we're going to do that. Your injuries are extensive, they'll take a while to heal completely, and we'll need you at the top of your game when we make our next move. And this time we'll decimate all the Scouts. None will be left alive, but the Ackermans and Eren Yeager will suffer the most.”


	8. Chapter 8

Eren woke up the morning they were supposed to leave for Paradis with an intense feeling of dread that he couldn't seem to shake. He barely managed to pull himself from bed and make himself presentable enough to go to the cafeteria for breakfast. He knew by the time he got there Sasha would have finished off most of the main dishes, so rice would have to be enough until they got home. The camp was buzzing as he walked through it, everyone was getting ready for a long journey home, and one that would likely be fraught with danger. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen, and it was something that scared him.

He tried to push his dark thoughts from his mind as he entered the cafeteria to see Armin sitting alone at a table. The rest of the room was practically empty, with only Conny and Sasha remaining, and they were on the other side of the room. He walked to the table that held the food and filled a bowl with rice before he returned to the table where Armin sat.

“Eren, I haven't seen you all day, where have you been?” Armin asked as Eren took a seat across the table from him.

“I was more tired than I thought, I guess.” He answered, picking at his rice as he spoke.

“Is something wrong?”

“Just nervous about the expedition to get home, that's all.”

“If you're worried about the Marleyans, they've got a lot on their plate as well. I doubt they'll be able to chase us so soon after our attack.”

“The most dangerous one is still with them, though, and I'm sure he'll be coming after us when he finds out what happened. He didn't appear to be around for the fight last night.”

“Even if they do send him after us, we have three titan shifters to combat him now, and he has no other intelligent titans to back him up.”

“We don't know where the ninth titan is, though, or what its abilities are. For all we know, they could be hiding that one as a secret weapon to use in this very situation.” Eren said, rattling off only some of the fears that had been plaguing him this morning.

“Eren, I'm sure we'll be fine. Whatever they throw at us, we can take it, just like we always have.”

“I hope you're right, Armin. I just can't shake this feeling...” He finished his rice quickly and pushed himself from his seat. “I think I'm going to go find Mikasa. I want to talk to her about a few things before we leave. Thanks for the reassurance, Armin. I'll see you in a few hours.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Armin said before Eren walked away from his table. He made a beeline for the barracks that he knew Levi was staying in and knocked on the door to his room cautiously. He expected to see Mikasa there as well, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, sorry, I was looking for Mikasa, I thought she might be here.” Eren said as he watched Levi limp away from the door to sit back on the bed.

“You just missed her. She's looking for you too.” He said.

“How are you feeling?”

“Not much different. My leg is useless. Even if I could use my leg properly I wouldn't be able to stand the pressure of the belts from the 3DM gear on my ribs to use it. I'm a liability.” Levi raked his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. “Was there something specific you needed Mikasa to know? I can tell her for you, in case you can't find her.”

“N-no, I just wanted to talk for a second. I'll go look for her somewhere else. Thanks.” Eren said, turning to leave.

“Eren,” Levi called after him, and he half turned his head to look back at him. “is everything okay?”

“What? Yeah, it's fine. Just nerves. I'll see you around, Heichou.” Eren closed the door behind him and headed for his room. If Mikasa was looking for him, that would probably be the first place she would look. Sure enough, she was in the hallway walking toward the front of the barracks when he entered them.

“There you are. I've been looking for you.” She said as she approached.

“Yeah, Levi told me. I've been looking for you too. Listen, I just...I have a bad feeling about the trip back home. Ever since I woke up this morning I've just felt...off. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I'm fine, Eren, you don't have to worry about me.”

“Mikasa, there's something else.” He said, taking her hand.

“What is it, Eren?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. He pulled her toward his room and closed the door behind them before he started talking again.

“I just want you to know, in case something goes wrong on our way back. I...I've always loved you. From the moment I saw you in that house, when we were kids, I knew I wanted to protect you, that's why I killed those men. I wanted to keep you safe. I know I've failed at that, and that you've had to save me more times than I've _ever_ been able to save you, but I just want to make sure you know before we leave.”

“Where is this coming from?” She asked, a concerned look on her face.

“Like I said, I just have a really bad feeling that I can't get rid of. I just needed you to know that I love you. Just...please be careful today.”

“I love you too, Eren.” She said with a sad look on her face. It was true and he knew it, but he also knew that it was too late to salvage anything from that fact.

“Oh yeah,” He let go of her hand and walked over to the corner of the room to retrieve a bag and handed it to her. “I found this in your house back in the camp and I thought you might want it back.”

She opened the bag and her eyes lit up as she pulled her long, red scarf out. The very same one that Eren had given her all those years ago as a symbol of his love. She held it to her face, breathing in the scent of it before wrapping it back around her neck and smiling at him.

“Thank you, Eren. I thought it was lost.” She said, and he could have sworn he saw a tear in her eye as she spoke.

“It's no problem. I thought you might want it back so I grabbed it before we left for the mission and tucked it away here for safe keeping.” He smiled at her and was surprised when she closed the distance between them and wrapped him in an embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back in turn, wishing that the moment would never end, although he knew it would have to.

“We should probably get ready to go soon.” She said, pulling back a little but still staying close to him. She kissed his lips softly before she pulled away. “I'll see you soon Eren.”

“Yeah.” He said as he watched her walk out the door and close it behind her. “See you soon.”

 

 

 

“Oh, you're wearing that again.” Levi said as Mikasa came back into their room. It wasn't that it bothered him that she wanted to wear it, he knew that it had special significance to her and that it had been a gift from Eren, but he had never gotten the full story on it before. That would be a story for another night of drunk truth or dare.

“Yeah, Eren had it. I thought that I'd forgotten it back at the camp.” She smiled and walked to the corner of the room where her gear was waiting for her and started to put it on. He watched her intently as she slipped her feet through the loops and began to tighten the rest of the belts that would allow her to use her 3DM gear.

“Come here and let me help you.” He said, waving her over before she tightened the first belt. She walked over and allowed him to adjust them for her. “I'm glad you're wearing that scarf again. I think he was starting to feel forgotten. All the talk about us yesterday couldn't have been easy for him.”

“He said he was worried about the mission, he thinks something's going to go wrong.”

“I can't blame him for worrying. I'm not looking forward to it.” He tightened the last belt around her left thigh and stood up slowly, placing his hands on her hips as he stood before her. He moved them up to fasten the last belt that went across her chest before he placed a light kiss on her lips. When he was done helping her he limped over to the mirror to tie his cravat around his neck, and then Mikasa helped him to put on his Survey Corps jacket, it was still difficult for him to dress himself because of the injuries to his ribs. “I hate being so useless.”

“You're not useless, you're injured. You can't help that.” Mikasa said, fixing the collar of his shirt.

“How would you feel if you were defenseless and others had to care for you and keep you safe? Do you think you would like being coddled and not being allowed to do anything for yourself?” He snapped at her, feeling vulnerable in his weakened state. “You should understand better than anyone why I hate to feel weak.”

“You're right, I promised myself I would never be weak again after what happened to my parents. I know exactly how you feel, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't do anything about it right now. I love you and I don't want you hurting yourself any more, so please, just be careful and do what I tell you.” Mikasa argued, wrapping her arms around him from behind and kissing the back of his head.

“Fine.” He scowled, looking into the mirror to see her without turning his head. “But when we get back home I get to do whatever I want.”

“Fine.” She giggled before she walked toward the door. “We should probably meet everyone else outside. It's almost time to go.”

“You're right. It will take me extra time to get there anyway. Let's go.” He tried to keep pace with her as they walked, but she ended up slowing down to make sure he wouldn't strain himself too much. When they arrived in the middle of the camp everyone else was already gathered there, watching as they made their way closer. Gabi and Falco seemed excited to try out their 3DM gear, although Mikasa knew she would have to hang back with them. They weren't quite good enough to go as fast as everyone else, but they caught on fast.

“Alright, looks like everyone is here.” Hanji said with a smile. “Ready to go, Eren?”

“Yeah.” He answered, moving back from the group before biting his hand and shifting into his titan. He lowered his hand for Levi to step onto and then placed him on his shoulder.

“Reiner will take over Levi carrying duties once we cross the sea and get back on Paradis. When we get to wall Maria, we should be able to catch a boat to get back to wall Sina. Let's try and get there without incident.”

 

 

 

it took them most of the day, but they'd arrived back at wall Maria with few problems. There had been a few titans, but they'd only had to engage two before they were safe within the confines of their walls. Hanji looked around at the people that had settled back into Shiganshina as they rode toward the boat that would carry them back to wall Sina. It was hard for her to believe that they'd been able to take it back at all, but just being there brought back dark memories of what they had sacrificed to make that a possibility. She looked toward the rooftop where Erwin had died and saw that Levi was staring that way too. She caught his eye and smiled sadly before she turned back to the rest of the group.

“Once we get back to Sina I want you to all take a day off. After that expedition I'm sure we all need a break.” She said happily as she stretched her arms toward the sky. She knew that she wouldn't have a break though, she would be too busy planning defenses and doing all the other political bullshit that she never thought she would have to do. Taking Erwin's place as the commander was the right thing for her to do, but she couldn't help but think that she wasn't suited for it the way he was. She wondered if he ever had doubts about what he did while he was alive and pushed the thoughts out of her mind before she could dwell on them for too long.

“Hanji, what about us?” Reiner asked as Gabi and Falco stood by his side. “There's no way they'll just welcome me back with open arms.”

“Hm, you may have a point. Gabi and Falco will be accepted. They're innocent children, although I'm sure they'll still be monitored. You're a different story though, Reiner. You infiltrated our society and wreaked years worth of havoc on our people, killing most of our soldiers and sending us into an economic downward spiral.” She looked thoughtful as the hope drained out of Reiner's eyes. “However, Historia is the Queen now. I'm sure if you talk with her, she'll pardon you. With my reassurance, of course.”

“Christa is...the queen?” He asked, his eyes going wide with shock.

“Her name is Historia now, but yes, she is. She's a part of the _actual_ royal family. I'm sure she can work something out for you.”

“Thank you, Hanji.” Reiner looked grateful as they all boarded the boat. Levi leaned against the rail at the bough of the boat, somewhat thankful to be back home. He had always felt trapped here, but it was better than worrying about being discovered in a foreign land. He wondered what would happen now that they were back, but he didn't anticipate it to be anything good.

“Are you glad to be back?” Mikasa asked as she stood beside him.

“In some ways. I'll be happier when I don't feel trapped everywhere I go.” He answered, looking over at her as she moved closer.

“What will you do when we get back to the interior?”

“Try to get better as quickly as possible. Now that we're back, I'm sure an attack is imminent. Zeke will want revenge, as well as the rest of the government of Marley.” He watched her for a moment as she stared in the direction the boat moved. “And what about you? Do you have any exciting plans now that we're home? Where will you go?”

“I hoped that I could stay with you.” She looked at him then, a hopeful look on her face. “You'll need my help anyway.”

“I wouldn't say I need it as much as it's been forced on me, but you're welcome to stay with me. My apartment isn't very spacious, it's just what the military gave me when I arrived here, but there's enough room for the two of us.”

“You'd be bored without me.” She said, smiling as he put his arm around her shoulders.

“That might be true. Not worrying constantly about our cover being blown will leave me with absolutely no way to occupy my time.” He looked back then at Eren and Armin who were laughing and talking together near the middle of the boat. “What about Eren? What are his plans?”

“I'm not sure. He and Armin were talking about living together. I think it would be good for him. I don't want him to be alone all the time.” She said, sadness bleeding into her voice. Levi pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. He knew it was still hard for her knowing that Eren returned her feelings now, but something had seemed different since her talk with Eren before they set off for home. He decided not to press the issue at the moment, that would be a talk for when they were alone. Right now they just needed to focus on being happy to be home.

The boat eventually stopped to let them off in the interior of the city and they walked through the streets to get back to the apartment buildings where Levi called home. The people of the city stared at them as they walked. The nine remaining scouts stood tall and proud as they meandered their way to the middle of the city. There were whispers about Reiner and the two children that walked with him, Hanji had thought it best for them to walk in the middle of the group to avoid conflict, but that didn't stop the people from talking.

“That's one of the traitors that attacked our walls. They've captured him!” A woman said to her husband as they walked by.

“He should be in chains!” The man answered, glaring at Reiner. He just kept his head down, trying not to draw too much attention. He hoped that Historia would be able to pardon him and stop rumors from spreading, but he wondered if he would ever be truly accepted here.

“Look at Captain Levi,” A younger woman standing off to the side said, eyes wide as she took in the state of him. “What in the world happened to him?”

“No one else has a scratch on them, he must be getting old and wearing down to be in the bad of shape returning from a mission.” The girl's friend said as they watched him. He turned his head to glare at them and watched as they shrank back into the crowd. What happened on the missions never bothered him half as much as the bullshit rumors that got around after they returned home.

“Mikasa, Heichou, we're going to get dinner later.” Armin's voice rang out as the group began to disperse to retrieve their housing assignments or go back to their apartments. “Would you two like to come along?” They looked at each other for a brief moment before Mikasa turned back to Armin.

“Thank you Armin, but I think Levi needs to rest. It's been a long day. We'll catch up with you tomorrow.” She smiled. Armin nodded and turned away, leading Eren by the hand as he looked back at them. She would need to talk to Eren again soon, to make sure he was okay, but now she only wanted to spend time with Levi. She'd barely gotten any time alone with him since he was rescued, after all. Besides, she wanted to tell him what had happened with Eren. She wondered if he would be jealous that she kissed him before they left, or if it would bother him at all. Levi had seemed very accepting of her complicated relationship with Eren, and he didn't seem to be the jealous type, but it still worried her. She helped him to his apartment and into a chair that sat around his table before she walked the few steps to the kitchen to put on the tea kettle.

“Something's bothering you.” He said before she even had the chance to speak. She turned, holding the fabric of her scarf in her hand before she sat down in a chair next to him.

“Levi, before we left...Eren told me a lot about our past. He confessed his love for me...I think...I think that he believes he's going to die soon.” She looked worried and he could tell that she took what he'd said very seriously.

“You mean before his three years are up?” He asked, trying to carefully tread around the subject.

“I think so. He seemed so worried about the journey home, and ever since we got back he's just looked...I don't know how to describe it. He just seems so sad.”

“It's going to take some time for him to get over everything. I'm sure being isolated during our time in Marley didn't help how he's feeling.”

“Levi...I kissed him before we left.”

“And?” He asked, boredom with the conversation creeping into his tone of voice.

“You're not upset?” She asked, blinking in confusion.

“You and Eren are close. You have a lot more history with him than with me. If I got jealous at every display of affection between the two of you there's no way this relationship would work. I care more about keeping you by my side than I care about a kiss between two friends that have known each other their entire lives.” He stated, watching her as he spoke. “Plus, I'm sure that I'm better than him in that department.”

“Is that so?” She asked with a smile, feeling relieved at his easy going response. She felt silly for expecting anything other than what he'd said. “You're awfully sure of yourself.”

“You seem satisfied with the way I do things.” He said, taking her hand as they sat around the table. She scooted closer, the distance between their lips closing just as the kettle began to whistle and she pulled away. “But you're also a tease.”

She retrieved two delicate china tea cups from the cupboard and poured water into both of them, placing the teabags in and bringing them both to the table.

“I missed you, Levi.” She said, tracing the rim of her cup before looking up at him. “I didn't know if I'd ever see you again.”

“How long was I gone?” He asked, the details of his captivity still somewhat of a mystery to him. They hadn't really had a good chance to actually talk since he'd been back with her, and he still had several questions.

“Almost three days. I tried to get them to act sooner but...”

“You tried to get them to act hastily. I survived, don't hold that against them.”

“You may have survived, but look at the state of you.”

“I'll be fine. This is nothing.” He said, dunking the teabag in his cup before removing it and placing it on a saucer.

“Don't try to act so macho you idiot. You were shot and tortured and you're acting like nothing even happened. You very well could have died just from where you were shot. Hanji said it barely missed your femoral artery.”

“I'm not acting macho, I'm trying to get you to understand that you can relax.” He set his cup down on the table and reached for her hand. “All I could think about while they had me was you, and how you were coming to save me. I knew you would because that's just what you do for the people that you love. So I wasn't worried about living, and I'm still not. I know you're here to take care of me, and I'm here to do the same for you. I promised Eren that much.”

“You promised Eren?” She asked, confused.

“The morning before they captured me Eren and I had a talk. He only wants to make sure that you're safe. He made me promise that I would keep you that way. That's why I'm so sure that he'll be okay with this whole arrangement eventually. He wants to see you happy, and he knows that you _are_ happy with me.”

“Eren said that...?”

“Of course he said that, he loves you. He told me the things that he can't tell you to your face. At least he couldn't at the time. Judging by what you've told me he finally worked up the courage to do so. Of course, apparently it's because he thinks he might die prematurely.”

“I won't let him.” She said, a sudden ferocity in her voice that had been absent before.

“I know you won't. Neither will I. It's always been both of our duty to protect him, ever since his trial. I'm not about to stop that now.”

“What a mess we've gotten ourselves into.” Mikasa smiled sadly as she toyed with her teacup. “Did you ever expect this relationship to be this complicated?”

“Everything that happens in this world is complicated.”

“The important thing is that we're home now. Let's make the best of our days off before something horrible happens again.” She pushed herself from her chair and walked around to stand behind Levi, placing her hands on his shoulders and letting them slide slowly down his chest.

“And what exactly is your definition of 'making the best' of our time here?” He turned his head and looked over his shoulder at her, an inquisitive tone to his voice. He had the feeling he already knew as she neglected to answer him, pressing her lips delicately to his neck. She moved in front of him then, taking his hand and leading him to the bed, gently pushing him onto it and climbing over him.

“I have a few ideas.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been struggling to write the past few chapters, but this one feels solid to me. I hope you all enjoy!

Zeke walked into the room, his expression cold as ice as his eyes scanned over the families of Reiner, Falco, and Gabi. They were bound and gagged, kneeling on the floor, tears streaming down their faces as he slowly paced in front of them. Magath hadn't told them a thing, they just knew that they would be punished for the acts of treason that their children had performed. He rubbed his temples before he spoke, he truly did hate this part.

“As you all know, Reiner, Gabi, and Falco have decided that it was in their best interest to flee. I'm sure you all realize that's a problem on its own, but Reiner has taken the two young children to Paradis. He's convinced them to live there with him as he aids the demons that seek to destroy us. I'm sure you've had a look outside since the attack and seen the devastation they caused. It can't go unpunished.” He pushed his glasses up on his face before he continued, the light shining off of them in a sinister manner. “That's why we've decided that you'll all aid us in our counter attack.”

He walked to a table at the back of the room and removed a white table cloth, revealing six small black boxes, one for each of the people kneeling before him. He sighed as he turned back to face them, the looks of sheer horror on their faces telling him that they already knew what their fate would be. The worst of it was that one of the new cadets was pulled into the mix. Colt, Falco's brother. He probably had no idea that Reiner had decided to take Falco, really probably none of them did, but it pained Zeke the most to see him kneeling there with the rest of them.

“As you all know, usually the families of those who defect are killed, but we thought that was a bit too wasteful this time around. The devils from Paradis now possess the power of the jaw titan, and severely injured Pieck when they attacked. We're down two titans, and we need an army, and that's where you all come in.”

The people in front of him started struggling against their restraints, muffled protests hushed by their gags filled the air in the room. Colt just stared at Zeke, seeming more angry than anything. Could it be that he resented his brother for leaving with Reiner? Or maybe it was just a blind hatred for Reiner now that drove the young man to look so determined. He would use that to his advantage later on, if he was able.

“You'll all have a few days to come to terms with your fate, and you'll all be used as examples to dissuade others from following the same path as Reiner. Enjoy your last few days as humans.” He turned sharply and walked toward the door then, anger burning in his chest as he thought about what Reiner had done. All because of him, their comrades had been murdered and injured, a promising young cadet was ripped from the program simply for his relation to Falco, and he wouldn't let the lumbering oaf get away with it.

He pressed on toward Pieck's room. She'd been recovering quite well, but it was still difficult for her to talk and breathing on her own was a task. Her spirits were high, though, if only because she was so driven for revenge.

“Zeke.” She smiled when he walked in, her voice quiet as she greeted him.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, making his way to her bedside.

“I'll be fully healed soon, and then we can start planning our attack.” She said, an excited tone to her voice. “I can't wait to rip off the heads of the Ackermans. I'm tempted to eat them just to see if I can gain any new powers from their blood.”

“You're getting ahead of yourself. The Ackermans are dangerous, I don't want you that near to them unless they're incapacitated.”

“You worry too much, Zeke. They'll be no match for what we have in store for them.” She smiled wickedly as thoughts ran through her head.

“We'll leave the planning to Magath. If he asks our opinions we'll clue him in, otherwise we'll follow whatever plan he comes up with. For now you need to continue to rest and heal. We'll get our revenge in due time, and it will be sweet.”

 

 

 

Levi had been up before the sun, settling back into the same routine of two to three hours of sleep a night. It was still hard on him, but it was better than nothing. The lack of sleep kept him on edge, readying him for whatever battle they would have to face next. He stared back at Mikasa who was still sound asleep on the bed in the small apartment and he wondered how she slept so soundly.

His apartment was nothing special, just a very small kitchen that lead into a living room/dining room with a bathroom and closet off to the side, but it was enough, it always had been. He wondered if she would be happy there, after everything was over and swiftly pushed the thoughts aside. That wasn't what he needed to be focused on now.

When he wasn't thinking about Mikasa's happiness he was thinking about the attack that he knew Marley was planning, and that alone was enough to keep him from day dreaming about their life together too much. Between that and the complications of their relationship with Eren and all the political drama that would surely stem from Reiner coming back, and with two children from Marley no less, he felt weighted down with stress. And this was supposed to be his day off. Pathetic.

He poured his third cup of tea since he got up that morning and sat at the table to drink it. His leg was feeling much better today, although he still walked with a slight limp, and he wondered if Hanji had been right about him having some kind of accelerated healing ability thanks to his bloodline. _That wouldn't make me much different than a titan_. He thought to himself as he sipped at his tea, staring at the sky through the small window above the kitchen sink. He wondered just how much he really was similar to Eren, and that made him wonder if that was why Mikasa had been drawn to him. He didn't have room for any of those kinds of thoughts, though. He was secure in whatever they had together, although it was undefined.

He turned as Mikasa moved around in the bed that he'd left hours ago and he could tell that she was confused at his absence.

“I'm here.” He said quietly, watching as she rolled over in the bed to face him. She'd managed to get her underwear back on before she fell asleep last night, but after their choice of extracurricular he was surprised she'd even managed that much. She stretched like a cat after a long nap before crawling out of the bed and making her way to him, bending down to kiss him before grabbing one of his china teacups and pouring herself some tea.

“You didn't sleep again.” She said as she sat down at the table, but not before pulling a blanket off of the bed and wrapping it around herself.

“I never do.” He answered, halfway smiling at how silly she looked.

“Have you heard anything from Hanji?” She asked pointedly.

“No, she's probably busy. I'll check in on her later.”

“How do you think Historia will handle Reiner? Surely she's not ready to just forgive him of all his past sins. I mean, they basically killed Ymir, you know she's still upset about that.”

“I guess we'll find out. I'm sure they'll have a trial for him. We can go talk to Hanji soon if you want.”

“We should. If he does have a trial and it's open to us I want to be there in case we can say anything that might help his case. He really has been a huge help. Those were the people that he grew up with, and it didn't even seem like he thought twice before attacking them. Surely that has to count for something.”

“Go get dressed and we'll head to Hanji's office.” He said, he had been ready to go out for a while now, managing to dress himself without her help for the first time since he'd been rescued. He could feel the steady ache in his torso from the broken ribs starting to fade, and it made him hopeful that he might be close to healed before Marley decides to strike.

Mikasa did as she was told and had no choice but to put on her clothes from the day before. Levi grimaced at the thought of it and promised they would find her some new clothes while they were out, and they left the apartment building and made their way to where Hanji would be. He had an easier time keeping up with her long strides today, although he still struggled a bit. He could tell that she noticed as she slowed her pace to match his own. Still, it didn't take them long to walk the three blocks to the large administrative building that held the office of the Commander of the Survey Corps. Levi stared at the door for a moment when they arrived, there was still a small plaque that read Commander Erwin Smith on the door. He pushed through the door without knocking after a moment, and he could instantly tell that Hanji was glad to see them.

“Levi! Mikasa! It's so nice of you to drop by, and on your day off. What can I help the two of you with?” She asked brightly, practically throwing a pen across the room that she'd been holding just a moment before.

“What's Historia doing with Reiner and his friends?” Levi asked, cutting straight to the chase. He'd never been a fan of dancing around a question he wanted an answer to.

“They're having a trial for Reiner today. As I assumed, Falco and Gabi have been pardoned and allowed to join the Corps. Zacklay will be overseeing Reiner's hearing in the courtroom today. Were you interested in going?”

“Do you think they'll ask for testimonies?” Mikasa asked, concern clear in her features as she spoke to Hanji.

“Probably. It wouldn't hurt to show up just in case. Historia was upset when I brought him before her, as I thought she might be. He was visibly remorseful and even got on his knees and begged for her forgiveness, but she was cold. I'll be there to speak my peace about him, I'm sure the testimonies of the two of you will be valued as well.”

“We'll be there.” Levi said.

“Oh good! It starts in one hour! I'll save the two of you a spot!”

“Where are Falco and Gabi now?” Mikasa asked, hoping that they hadn't thrown the two children into a jail cell or something.

“I believe they're in the same barracks as Eren, building C, I think. They could probably do with a bit of cheering up. They were present when Historia had Reiner hauled away in chains. Gabi was especially distraught. Try checking Eren's room first, they wouldn't leave his side.”

They nodded and headed out toward barracks C, hoping that the two children hadn't been too scarred by their first experiences within wall Sina. Eren lived on the third floor, and while normal walking was easy for Levi, stairs posed more of a challenge. He made it to the third floor, though, regardless of how much pain he was in when they got there. Mikasa knocked on Eren's door and he answered it rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Heichou, Mikasa, what are you doing here?” He asked, surprised to see them. It seemed like he was in high spirits though, which was a welcomed change from the last time they'd seen him.

“Are Gabi and Falco here? Hanji just told us what happened with Reiner. We wanted to make sure they're okay.” Mikasa answered, peering into the room over Eren's shoulder. He opened the door a bit wider to reveal the two children sleeping soundly on his floor.

“They had a hard time with what Historia said. She didn't hold back.”

“He took her lover to the slaughter, of course she didn't hold back.” Levi said, the same blank expression on his face as always.

“His trial is today, right? Do you think I should go?”

“I don't see how it could hurt. You being a shifter might even make for a valuable testimony in his favor. We're going to attend in case we can say anything to help.” Mikasa answered, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Eren looked down to see that she was still wearing the scarf that he'd given back to her yesterday and a smile spread across his face. Levi looked at him like he was an idiot, but decided not to say anything to him about it. Things were already complicated enough between the three of them, and regardless if it was a joke or not, he decided not to make it worse.

“Will you take them to the trial too?” He asked, nodding toward Falco and Gabi.

“I think I might ask Armin to look after them while we're there. I don't think it would be too smart to take them, Gabi especially. She has a temper and she might speak out of turn and mess up the trial.”

“Probably for the best.” Mikasa answered. “We're heading there soon, so I guess we'll see you there.”

“Yeah, see you there.” He answered before closing the door.

Mikasa felt a pang of guilt any time she and Levi were together around him, but it was something they wouldn't be able to avoid. If she wanted both of them in her life they would all have to get used to being around each other. She wondered how much longer the awkward conversations and longing glances would keep happening, but decided it was a thought for another time.

They had quite a distance to walk to the courthouse and she wondered if she should call a coach over so that Levi could rest his leg, but he insisted that he was fine and that he would rather walk anyway.

“Stop treating me like an old man, brat.” He said at the mention of riding to the courthouse. “I'm injured not crippled.”

“I'm just trying to make sure you don't make it worse.” She said, rolling her eyes at his stubbornness. “Plus, you seemed a bit winded when we climbed those three flights of stairs.”

“Watch your mouth.” He teased as he elbowed her while they walked.

They kept a leisurely pace as they walked through the streets, both of them feeling somewhat at ease that they could walk together in public and not have to worry about being found. It was nice, even if it was only under the pretense that they could be attacked at any moment. He reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and she looked at him like he might be crazy for it.

“What are you doing?” She asked, almost pulling her hand away. He held onto her tightly, though, and she stopped her struggle.

“Is there something you're trying to hide?” He asked with a sidelong glace as they walked past two groups of people that both stared them down with little attempt at hiding it.

“I just didn't take you as the PDA kind of guy.” She said, relaxing a bit as they passed a group of MP's on the corner.

“Is that Captain Levi?”

“Who's he with?”

“Wait, are they holding hands?” The group buzzed as they walked past, making no effort to hush their voices. It was only when Levi turned his head to glare at them that they hushed and dispersed, still eying them to see if they could figure out who Mikasa was.

“Does it bother you that people stare at us and whisper as we walk past? Are you ashamed of me or something?” He asked with a mocking tone to his voice.

“Well, you are kind of old, and a little too short for me.” She jabbed with a playful tone.

“Is that the best you could come up with?”

“I try, but it's hard to come up with new jokes these days. I just keep coming up short.”

“Oh, hilarious.” The corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile as they reached the bottom of the long staircase that would take them into the courthouse. “Fuck.”

“Do you want me to carry you?” Mikasa asked, giggling a little as he stared up at them.

“You're really pushing it today.” He said, sighing before they began their trek. He tried his best to hide it, but he was a bit winded when they reached the top. She had flashbacks to Eren's trial when they entered the courtroom, and she knew this one would be much the same. She must have looked worried because Levi spoke up then.

“Having flashbacks to Eren's trial?” He asked as they took similar positions to where they had stood all those years ago.

“You're not gonna beat the shit out of Reiner like you did Eren are you?”

“If I have to.” He said. He was worried about Reiner, although his outward appearance might not show it. Levi knew that Reiner would be vital to any kind of defense strategy they would be able to come up with, and wondered what he might be able to say to convince Zacklay that he would be useful.

“I should have gone to talk to Historia yesterday. I might have been able to convince her of a different course of action with him.”

“I wouldn't count on it. If Reiner and Bertholt had carried you away and fed you to one of their warriors I would have killed him the next moment I saw him. I'm surprised she didn't have him beheaded in the streets.

“Somehow I doubt she would go for that kind of thing.” Mikasa said as people started flooding into the courtroom. Levi shrugged as Eren joined them and stood on the other side of Mikasa, Hanji wasn't far behind him. It was surreal that they were here again, and again for the benefit of a friend that they wanted, _needed,_ to save for the betterment of their people.

“This brings back some weird memories.” Eren said as he looked around the enormous room, his eyes finally landing on the spot where he'd knelt in the middle, the spot where Reiner would be in a few moments.

“Wanna go have a re-enactment, Yeager?” Levi asked and Mikasa elbowed him in the ribs. Perhaps too hard, given his condition, as it seemed to suck the breath from him momentarily before he scowled at her.

“No thanks, Heichou. I'd rather not get another beating from you. I learned my lesson the first time.” Eren smiled and laughed and Mikasa felt a wave of relief that Eren hadn't been slighted by what Levi had said. Mikasa awkwardly stood between them as the rest of the onlookers made their way into the room and they all turned serious when the MP's lead Reiner in, shackled and gagged. They'd taken every precaution they could think of to keep him from potentially shifting. He looked over at all of them with a mix of emotions playing through his features before they forced him to his knees and secured him in place. Zacklay entered the room shortly after and the trial began.

“Reiner Braun, you're charged with high treason, along with a litany of other charges for your crimes against humanity. In most people's eyes this should be an open and shut case, but here I am again, just the same as I was with Eren Yeager's case years ago, because we have special circumstances. As with the aforementioned case, I have been given complete authority and my word is final. We're having this trial today because, although you have committed treason and betrayed our society by infiltrating and destroying our walls, leaving countless people without homes and causing immense loss of life, you have also helped our cause recently. Is that true?” Zacklay's long winded opening speech caught the attention of everyone in the room, including Eren, which was difficult to do. He stared at Reiner as he waited for an answer, the whole courtroom wondering what he would say before he realized that Reiner was unable to answer. “Take that ridiculous gag out of his mouth. He can't answer me that way.”

The MP's did what they were asked, albeit reluctantly, and stood back again.

“Yes, sir, it's true.” Reiner finally confirmed.

“Is there anyone present that was there at Marley?” Zacklay looked around and his gaze landed on Levi. “Mr. Ackerman, I believe you were part of the undercover force?”

“Yes.” Levi answered flatly. “Along with Eren and Mikasa.”

“What exactly did Mr. Braun do to assist you with your mission?”

“During our time in Marley, Reiner helped me in and out of Liberio, an internment camp for Eldians where we were stationed, so that I could relay information back to Hanji and the others. He was also an integral part of the rescue mission to get me back after I was discovered, as he was the one to find where they were keeping me. He had inside knowledge that made it easy to plan the attack, as well.”

“Oh?” Zacklay seemed thoughtful before a cocky MP spoke up.

“This is the same man that broke through wall Maria and attacked the Scouts on their expedition to Shiganshina, leaving them with only nine members at the end. Do you really think we can trust him and let him back into our ranks?” The bystanders mumbled their agreement.

“Reiner killed Marleyans for our benefit!” Eren spoke up, an edge to his voice that harkened back to when he was younger.

“You fought alongside Mr. Braun in Marley, did you not?” Zacklay asked.

“Yes, sir, and he didn't hesitate to help me. I was under attack by one of their titans and he charged them head on. No one that is doubting their allegiance would do that. He allowed me to gain the powers of the jaw titan by doing that, and we effectively demolished most of the city in the process. I don't believe Reiner is a threat to us. In fact, I believe he's a valuable ally.”

“Commander Hanji, what do you think?” Zacklay turned his attention toward her with somewhat of a careless expression.

“Reiner has been very helpful to us in our undercover mission. We agreed to help two of his young friends, which the Queen has already pardoned, and he fought valiantly in battle for us in return. I don't believe he poses any sort of threat, and we can glean valuable information about titan shifters and their abilities by running a few experiments with him like I did with Eren. Reiner is loyal to us, I have no doubt about that.”

“And, Miss Ackerman, Mikasa, what do you have to say about Mr. Braun?”

“Reiner is a friend and an ally. He helped to get Captain Levi home after our rescue mission since he couldn't use 3DM gear due to his injuries. We owe him a second chance, sir.” She answered. She looked at Reiner then and thought he might start to cry, clearly the testimonies of the Survey Corps had touched him.

“Well, this seems fairly easy then. Reiner Braun, despite your crimes against humanity and the havoc you've wreaked on our society, you are hereby pardoned of your treasons against the crown and handed over to the Survey Corps. However, if we see the slightest sign of your loyalty wavering, you will be sentenced to death. Do I make myself clear?” Zacklay closed the folder that sat on his desk and looked straight at Reiner.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” He said, his voice cracking with emotion.

“Please release Mr. Braun from his chains. The case is closed.” Zacklay left the courtroom as the people that had come to watch expecting a death sentence milled around the room. The MP's released Reiner begrudgingly and Eren hopped over the railing to go speak with him.

“Falco and Gabi will be relieved.” Mikasa said with a smile as she watched Eren and Reiner talking. She looked over at Levi and he looked bored before Reiner approached him.

“Heichou,” Reiner said nervously. “I know I've only just been pardoned and this might seem like a strange question but...I was really hoping that I might be able to see Annie.”

“Annie?” Levi asked, surprised that something like this would come up.

“I told him it might be okay to see her.” Eren added as he stood behind Reiner.

“I suppose I could take you to see her, but you won't be able to speak with her. She's still encased in the crystal that she made when we ripped her out of her titan.”

“That's okay, I just...” Reiner struggled to find the words to describe what he must be feeling.

“You don't have to explain, come on.” Levi said as he walked toward the door. “I'll be back home later, Mikasa, don't wait up.”

Reiner followed Levi tentatively, and Levi could hear his quickened breathing at the anticipation of seeing a friend that he thought he would never see again. He understood, if only for a moment. Losing people is hard, and being in the Scouts for the time that he was there meant that he'd lost more people than most. Levi couldn't help but feel bad for him in the moment. They walked through the courthouse and to a long, spiraling staircase that seemed to go down forever and Levi sighed at the thought that he would have to climb back up this same staircase after their visit was over. They went down for what seemed like ages before their feet hit the uneven stone path that would lead them to the large room where Annie had been kept. Levi flicked on the only light in the room, reminding him of the dungeon he'd been kept in during his time at Marley, and stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed, while Reiner looked on in awe.

She was there, the same as she'd always been, encased in the enormous crystal of her own creation, arms crossed over her chest as if she were mummifying herself. Reiner moved closer with slow, cautious steps, pain clear on his face as he looked up at her. He hadn't seen her since the 57th expedition, and that had been too many years ago to count. She still looked the same, like she hadn't aged a bit, still wearing her MP uniform, but she had a pained expression on her face. He was used to seeing her emotionless, the steel trap of her mind never let any feelings out, except for in this frozen state. He touched the cold crystal with a flat palm as Levi looked on.

“Annie...I'm sorry.” He said quietly, shaking his head as it hung low with grief. “I'm sorry that you had to do this, but I'll get them back and then you can come out of there. I'll make it so that you don't have to worry about what they'll do to you.”

Levi knew he was talking about Marley when he said it, but he knew that it would be just as difficult to get her pardoned as it was for him. And if he was being honest with himself, he would rather see her rot. Annie had singlehandedly killed his whole squad on that expedition. He still remembered the look on Petra's face when he'd found her crippled body pushed up against the tree she'd died against and he gritted his teeth at the thought of it.

Reiner spent a few more moments there, pressed against the crystal encasing his friend before he turned back to Levi, wiping tears from his eyes and trying to look like the hardened warrior he'd always been. He pushed out the door without a word and Levi followed him, locking it behind them, and ascended up the spiral staircase back to the surface.

 

 

 

He was surprised to see her up and about, but there she was, skipping down the hallway of the dank underground prison barefoot and in a nightgown. She smiled as she saw him walking toward her. There was a bandage around her neck, but otherwise she looked well.

“Zeke! I was just coming to look for you.” Pieck said in a sing song voice as she stopped in front of him.

“I didn't expect you to be out of bed so soon.” He answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “It's only been two days.”

“Magath and the doctor say that I'm not ready for battle yet, but I yelled at them until they let me out of that bed. I need to see the sunlight. Will you come with me?” She took his hand and started to lead him away before he answered, but he wouldn't have refused her. She looked happy outwardly, but knew she must be struggling with the loss of Galliard without showing it. Pieck had always been fond of him, and in another life Zeke thought that they might have been married if they were able. When he'd told her what happened to him she just seemed kind of numb. Definitely not the reaction he would have expected from her upon hearing the news, but it could have been the pain medication that had been steadily dripping into her veins that dulled her emotions.

“You seem to be cheery today.” He said as they pushed through the door that lead them to the outside world and she took a deep breath of the fresh air.

“I'm happy that I'm one step closer to getting my revenge on Eren Yeager. I'm going to rip him apart and devour him in front of his friends for what he did to me.” She said with a smile that made Zeke think for a moment that she possibly should have been put into an insane asylum instead of given the power of the titans. She had always been this way, though, strange and vengeful, and the fact that Eren had taken away her love had pushed her right over the edge. “I can't wait to taste his blood, I bet it's sweet.”

“Pieck, you're getting ahead of yourself.” Zeke said, struggling to pull her back to sanity.

“Their blood always tastes sweet when they're as pure as that one is. My titan loves it.” She closed her eyes as she remembered the feeling. Zeke had been worried about her delicate frame of mind for a while. Ever since their mission to Shiganshina she'd been slightly different. He wasn't sure if it had been because she was in her titan form for so long or just because her mental stability had always been at a tipping point.

“I'll let you kill him when the right time comes, you deserve that much, but for now we need to be patient, and you'll need to follow orders.” Zeke said with a bit of a stern tone to his voice.

“Oh, you're no fun Zeke. You never let me fantasize about this type of thing.”

“That's because I don't want you getting lost inside your titan. You know how much they've warned us about that.”

“Being a titan would be better.” She said, still smiling, but Zeke could see the pain in her eyes that she was hiding from the rest of the world outside her head. He worried for her, but he knew that her determination was good. The devils of Paradis would be getting what they deserved very soon, and that brought a sinister smile to his own face as they walked through the demolished city.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up boys and girls, if you thought the story was bad for Eren before, I've got some news for you. This one is a roller coaster of emotions, so prepare yourselves!

On his way back home, Levi had stopped in a dress shop and bought a little something for Mikasa. He felt like he might go crazy if he stayed cooped up in the apartment all night and thought that she would like to go out. He knew she was apprehensive about parading herself around with him, the consequences of being seen in public together were usually the hushed, judgmental whispers of everyone around them, but he wanted her to feel more comfortable about it. He didn't think it was fair to hide her away from the world, no matter what the world might think about their relationship. The man in the store packed up a tight fitting, off the shoulder, red dress along with a pair of high black heels and a sparkling diamond necklace and matching bracelet. He thought it would match her tastes, but to be honest he really didn't know what she would like. Regardless, he had promised he would buy her new clothes, and that's what he was doing. He had to guess at her size, although he was sure he knew every inch of her well enough at this point to guess correctly.  
When he got back to the apartment she looked at him strangely, eying the dress bag and boxes that he carried through the door. She'd been sitting on the bed reading a book when he arrived, but she put it down quickly.  
“What's that?” She asked, pushing herself off of the bed.  
“New clothes. I told you I'd buy you some. We're going out tonight.” He replied, hanging the dress bag on the bathroom door and leaving the shoe box and jewelery on the table. “Go get ready.”  
“What do you mean we're going out?” She asked, her eyes lingering on the jewelery boxes.  
“There isn't much that I can mean by that. I want to take you somewhere nice and have a good evening together. Is that so bad?”  
“No, I just...” She trailed off but he knew what she was thinking.  
“You're just embarrassed by what people think about us.” He walked over to her and took her hands in his, staring deeply into her eyes. “Fuck 'em. Let them think what they want, but don't let it intrude on your happiness. Now go get ready.”   
“Fine.” She said, smiling before pulling away and retreating into the bathroom to get dressed. She applied ruby red lipstick and a bit of eye makeup before coming out to ask him to zip the dress for her. He did so and let his hands rest idly on her hips for a moment after. He had chosen well, and the dress fit her perfectly. She stood in front of a full length mirror, admiring the dress that he'd picked out while he walked to the table and retrieved the necklace he'd bought her. He put it on her from behind and her eyes lingered on the precious stones around her neck for a moment before she turned to face him.   
“You spent too much money on me.” She said, almost sounding annoyed.  
“You're not supposed to complain about that.” He replied, turning to retrieve the shoes and bracelet that he'd bought for her. He'd already dressed himself in a well tailored black suit with a long slender tie. The suit fit him perfectly, accentuating his lean figure and broad shoulders. She slipped on the shoes, making her even taller than before which he regretted almost immediately, and he helped her fasten the bracelet around her wrist before he looked her over again.  
“What?” She asked, feeling suddenly self conscious as he stared.  
“You're just beautiful, that's all.” He said, dropping his cool and collected facade for a moment to truly appreciate her beauty. Her face turned a little red at the statement but she took his hand and headed for the door without saying another word. He lead her to a nice looking, upper class club that she never would have dreamed she'd be walking into when she still lived in Shiganshina. Soft jazz music from a live band played in the background as they entered and all eyes were on them. She heard the whispers, but she took Levi's advice and didn't let it bother her. They found a table big enough for the two of them and Levi sat down while she went to get drinks. She knew he liked whiskey, so she got two whiskey sours and returned to him.  
“What do you think?” He asked, his voice a little louder than normal so that he could be heard over the music.  
“I've never seen anything like this in my life.” She answered, still looking around in awe at everything.  
“The perks of being humanity's strongest.” He said, rolling his eyes. They'd gotten about halfway through their drinks before they noticed Eren and Armin standing in the crowd. Mikasa's eyes lingered on Eren and Levi noticed. “Do you want to go talk to him?”  
“What?” She asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.  
“You should let him know you're here. Ask him to dance or something. I can't do it, my leg is still too bad.” Levi gave her a knowing look and she smiled before she downed the rest of her drink and walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder. He was dressed much the same as Levi, but without the tie. The top button of his shirt was undone, giving him a more relaxed look and he smiled a wide and truly happy smile when he saw her. Levi noticed Eren's eyes sweeping over her several times, but it couldn't be helped, and he didn't let it bother him. He knew that Eren still wanted her and that was fine, as long as he knew that it wasn't possible any more.  
“Wow, you look great!” Eren said as Armin nodded in agreement.  
“Thanks.” She smiled, feeling a bit awkward at the compliment. “Who else is here?”  
“I think Jean is around here somewhere, I haven't seen anyone else though.” He answered. The music changed from up tempo to slow and Armin looked at the two of them before he excused himself to go and sit by Levi.  
“Eren, would you like to dance?” Mikasa asked shyly. “You know how much I love it and Levi is still too hurt.”  
“Sure.” He blinked in surprise before he held out his hand to her and they walked to the dance floor together. They didn't really know any specific dances, but they were content holding each other and swaying together to the slow, soulful jazz in the background. It was nice for her to be with him like that, just together without any implications or awkward silences. Just the two of them swaying to the music and cherishing the moment with each other. She rested her head on his shoulder as they moved, hearing his heartbeat and feeling satisfied that they had survived another mission. His hands stayed respectfully on her lower back, although high enough up to where it didn't seem too intimate. He was more careful around her than he had previously been, making sure to be respectful of what she and Levi had together, although it did hurt to be with her like this and know that nothing would come of it. The song seemed to go on for hours, and they were both happy with it, only breaking apart again when it slowly changed into something more upbeat.  
She smiled up at him when they stopped swaying, although he was still holding her in the middle of all the people that had begun to dance around them. He wanted to kiss her and beg her to stay with him for just a little longer, but he knew that he couldn't.  
“I'm gonna go get another drink. You can come and join us at our table if you want.” She said happily as she started to pull away from him. He moved his hands off of her then and shoved them into his pockets.  
“I actually think I might go home. I'm getting kinda tired.” He smiled, but she could see the pain in his eyes and wondered if she'd made a mistake by sharing that intimate moment with him. “Have a good time though, Mikasa, you deserve it.” He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before he left the dance floor, avoiding the area where Levi sat. She saw Armin run out after him and she felt a heavy fog of despair wash over her as she made her way back to the table. She was stopped short before she got there, though, by a very obviously drunk Jean. His clothes were disheveled and he was having a hard time standing on his own.  
“Mikasa, if you're giving out dances how about one with me?” He asked, a lazy and somewhat predatory smile curling his lips as he all but forced her against a wall, his arms on either side of her body.  
“I'm tired Jean, I don't want to dance right now.” She said, trying to be polite. She knew that he wouldn't do this normally, but the fact that he hadn't learned anything from the last time made her blood boil.  
“Come on, you just got here. I saw you walk in with Captain shorty like five minutes ago. You can't be tired yet.” His words were slurred and his face a bit too close to hers as she ducked out from under his arm and moved closer to the direction of the table. She looked over to find Levi gone, though, and wondered where he could have gotten off to.  
“I really have to pass for now, Jean, these shoes are really hurting my feet.”  
“Take 'em off then. Nobody cares. Come on Mikasa, please.” He grabbed her arm then, pulling her toward him before she realized where Levi had gone. He was standing behind Jean now, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
“Kirstein, I'd suggest you leave her alone.” He said calmly, although his eyes reflected an anger that Mikasa had rarely seen in him. Jean spun around and regarded the much shorter man, blinking his eyes several times to focus.  
“Speak of the devil.” He said, turning to Mikasa and pointing toward Levi. “Mikasa was just telling me that she wanted to dance.”  
“I don't think that's what she was saying.” Levi deadpanned as Mikasa moved to his side. Jean grabbed for her again but Levi caught his wrist and twisted it until he was on his knees.  
“Ah, shit, let me go!” Jean cried before Levi reluctantly released him, pushing him back so that he fell on his ass.  
“I got drinks, let's go back to the table.” He motioned to their table where another two drinks sat waiting for them and took her hand to lead her there. She looked back at Jean with a little concern. She felt bad, she didn't think he really knew what he was doing, but it also sent a shiver of delight through her that Levi had been jealous. He glared back toward Jean who was now back on his feet again and took a deep drink from his glass. He was jealous and she could tell. She thought that the possessiveness of some men over their girlfriends was strange and controlling, but she liked the way Levi was acting tonight. It was a side of him that she hadn't really seen before.  
“You didn't have to do that.” She said as she sipped her drink.  
“He had it coming.” Levi all but growled.  
“Maybe, but I could have just avoided him. It wasn't like he had the motor control to follow me if I walked away quickly.  
“Yeah, but it bothered me.” He admitted.  
“I think I like jealousy on you.” She said, taking his hand as she sipped at her drink.  
“Is that so?” He half smirked. They continued with idle conversation until their drinks were empty and they were feeling a bit happier about being out.  
“I'll go get two more.” Mikasa said as she went back up to the bar. She saw Jean, who was looking even more inebriated than before if that was at all possible, trying to buy another drink as well. The bartender seemed to be refusing him.  
“Hey baby, nice ass.” He slurred as she walked up to the bar.  
“Watch your mouth, Jean.” She said, rolling her eyes as she turned toward the bartender.  
“I can't watch it, but I can do some other things with it if you want.” His pick up line made her cringe, but worse than that it earned him a swift kick to the groin from Levi and a knee in the face. Mikasa was shocked before Levi walked over to her.  
“Forget about the drinks,” He said to the bartender, taking her hand somewhat roughly. “We're leaving.” He slammed money down on the bar to close their tab and they walked out of the club in a hurry. She couldn't say that she was upset that they were leaving, but she wished that the evening had been nice like he wanted it to be. They walked quickly and in silence until they got far enough away from the club that Levi was satisfied that Jean wouldn't find them and they slowed their pace. He was limping again, and Mikasa knew it was because of the strain he'd put on his bad leg when he beat the shit out of Jean. He raked a hand through his hair, seeming deep in thought for a moment before he spoke.  
“Fucking Kirstein.” He spoke through gritted teeth.  
“I didn't know you had a jealous side.” Mikasa smiled before he grabbed her hand and lead her into an alleyway, pushing her up against the side of a building and smashing his mouth hard to hers. She was surprised at first, but let her hands find their way to his hair as he kissed her. His hands wandered her body, landing on her ass and holding firmly as they continued their public display. He broke away and Mikasa was suddenly glad that they alleyway was as dark as it was. Her red lipstick had smeared onto his face and his hair was mussed from her hands being in it. He breathed heavily as he pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes seemed softer now. He smoothed his hair down and wiped off his mouth, with Mikasa's help, before speaking again.  
“Sorry.” He apologized before he laced his fingers with hers and they left they alleyway.  
“I thought you were just saying that we shouldn't let other people's opinions get to us.” She teased as they walked slowly back toward their apartment.  
“That wasn't an opinion, he was sexually harassing you.” She could see his jaw tighten even at the mention of it.  
“Well thank you for standing up for me, but I could have handled it myself.”  
“I know you could have, but I wanted him to know what will happen if he does it again. I wasn't trying to make you feel like a damsel in distress.” He rolled his eyes even at the thought of it.  
“It was kinda sexy though, watching you get so jealous.” She teased, tracing circles on his hand as she held it in hers. He smirked at her, letting his eyes linger on hers for a moment before he looked forward again.  
“You think so?” He asked in the same cool tone he always used. “Maybe I should beat the shit out of Jean more often then.”  
“Only when he does something stupid like that.” She laughed.  
“I guess I can't hold it against him too much. Your gorgeous, I'm having a hard time controlling myself.” His tone was jovial and she knew he was being sarcastic, but she could feel the desire as they drew nearer to their home. They stopped off to get a bottle of wine to finish off their evening and she kicked off her shoes before they started climbing the stairs to the floor that Levi's apartment was on. They hadn't even made it in before he pushed her up against the door, fumbling with his keys as he unlocked it and they stumbled in, slamming it behind them.

 

Armin had chased him, but Eren had said he just wanted to be alone. Gabi and Falco had gone to live with Reiner since he was pardoned and he was glad for it. Dancing with Mikasa had been worse for him than he thought it would be, mentally. He'd just gotten to the point where he could look at her again without wanting to burst into tears, but all of that was reversed with a five minute song and an intimate dance with her. The way she'd felt against him as she rested her head on his shoulder made him long for that kind of thing to happen all the time. He wondered what she was doing now, if she was having a good time at the club with Levi. He hoped that she was, regardless of how he felt. He kept telling himself that her happiness was more important than his, in the grand scheme of things it would be easier this way. She wouldn't be so broken when his time finally came to leave the earth if she was already in a happy relationship. Or maybe she would be. It was hard for him to tell exactly how she felt about him. He could feel that the love for him was still there, but he knew that she wouldn't ever try to act on it again.  
He sat with his head in his hands at his kitchen table, the weight of what was supposed to be a pleasant evening bearing down on his chest. He walked to the cabinet and retrieved a bottle of vodka that he'd bought just because he could and poured a shot into a small glass, tipping his head back to take it and immediately pouring another. He knew that he probably shouldn't be alone right now, but that was all that he wanted. He couldn't be around other people like this. A constant cloud of gloom and depression hung over him, and he could tell that it infected others. Armin was always so careful around him now, making sure not to mention her in passing. Deep down he thought that Armin might have started to hate Mikasa a little for what she was doing to him, but he knew the three of them could never really feel that way about each other. They'd been together through thick and thin, there was no changing their unbreakable bond now.  
He sighed and took his next shot, again pouring another as soon as he drained the glass. Thinking about her all the time like this made him feel ill. How could he have been so stupid as to make her wait for so long? And now he'd fucked it up and she was happy with someone else. The kind of happy that he thought she could only be with him. He squeezed his eyes shut as tears threatened to spill over. He hated himself for crying over her, for feeling so miserable when he'd told her that he was happy for them.  
He had to put on a good show around them regardless of how he really felt. He knew that Heichou could sense it in him, the weight of letting her move on without him, but he was confident that he had Mikasa fooled. So he smiled and laughed and joked with the two of them when they were together, because it was easier for her, and it made her happy, and that was all he had ever really wanted.  
I'll wrap that around you as much as you want. Now and forever.  
He let his head fall to the table as his sobs broke out. He was thankful that the walls of his small apartment were thick and sound proof as he cried. The pain of everything up until now and feeling utterly alone, it was almost enough to make him want to give up, but he had a bigger purpose. He pulled himself together long enough to take his last shot before he stumbled himself to his bed and collapsed from emotional exhaustion. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

 

It had been a few days since the incident with Jean and Levi was feeling completely back to normal. His fingernails were still growing back and he would have some scarring on his fingers, but other than that he felt fine. In fact, he was beginning to feel a bit antsy. So long without any fighting had made him soft, and he hadn't been able to train while he was hurt. He could tell Mikasa was feeling the same way, so they decided to go to the training grounds for some practice. He popped his neck and rolled his shoulders as he stretched his under used muscles. He could feel Mikasa watching him and he wasn't sure if it was because she found him attractive in his current shirtless state or if she was just focused.   
She'd taken him by surprise when they left.  
“I want to fight you.” She said, arching an eyebrow.  
“Fight me?” He scoffed. “Are you sure?”  
“You're too cocky, I think you need to be knocked down a peg. We both want to train and we don't have anyone else to practice with, so I want to fight you.”  
“If you're in the mood to get roughed up a little I guess I can oblige you. Do we need a safe word or something?” He joked, but she'd shoved him out the door without answering. When they made it to the training grounds she seemed completely focused on her objective. Her eyes followed him wherever he went, like an animal stalking prey, and he grinned at her enthusiasm.  
“Are you ready old man?” She asked, assuming a fighting stance that had made him chuckle.  
“You're about to see how old I really am. Just because you're younger doesn't mean I can't still kick your ass.” He just stood aloof with his arms crossed in front of his chest as she lunged at him. The first attack was easy to dodge and he feigned a yaw as he turned to face her again. He almost spoke to piss her off more, but she caught him off guard and swept her leg under his, knocking him off balance. He rolled to his feet again and attacked. He would have felt bad swinging at a woman if it wasn't her. She was his counterpart in every aspect of the word. The female version of himself, and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold back if he wanted bragging rights, and he really really did.  
He threw a punch at her abdomen but she caught his hand and threw her own at his face. It hit home and he could taste blood in his mouth and smiled at the force with which she'd hit him. She looked serious and he liked it. He moved quickly, faster than she could react, and tackled her to the ground, straddling her waist and pinning her wrists above her head as he leaned over her.  
“Looks like I win.” He smiled.  
“Fuck you.” She bucked him off and reversed the position, rearing back her fist and punching him square in the nose. She didn't punch him hard enough to break it, just enough to make him bleed a little and make his head swim. He blinked a few times before he admitted defeat and she couldn't tell if he actually wanted to stop or if he was just afraid he might hurt her. Regardless, she accepted the victory.   
“What was that about kicking my ass?” She asked, breathing heavily from the fight as she rolled off of him.  
“Yeah, yeah, gloat all you want. I didn't want to ruin your face. Clearly you don't care about mine.” He said, wiping blood from under his nose.  
“It's still pretty, your nose isn't even crooked.” She laughed, patting him on the shoulder before she pushed herself off of the ground and brushed the dust off of her clothes. She helped him up as well and he put his shirt back on before they decided that they wanted to practice with 3DM gear and headed to the store room when they started to hear a strange sound. It was a low hum at first, and it was distant, but it quickly got closer and faster before they ran out of the room to look up at the sky. They hadn't seen anything like it before. Some kind of vehicle sailed through the sky, the sound of the loud engine was disorienting. Levi was in awe for a moment before he realized what was happening.   
“Mikasa, get your gear on, now!” He shouted, finishing with the last few belts to secure his gear before turning back to her. He needed to go tell Hanji about what they'd seen, but he knew that whatever had just flown over them would reach the center of the city of Mitras much faster than he could, even with his 3DM gear equipped and ready to go. He waited for Mikasa to finish strapping on her gear before they raced toward where their friends would be, completely vulnerable and unsuspecting of the attack that had just flown over their head. Levi rushed off before Mikasa was completely ready, and when he looked up he could see people at the back of the vehicle.  
“Levi, what's going on?” Mikasa asked as she caught up to him.  
“It's them. I didn't expect them to come this far in before they launched their attack. I didn't think they could!”  
“We have to get Eren! He can hold them off until everyone else gets ready.”  
“You get Eren, I have to tell Hanji.” He looked over at her then, the same fear that he'd felt at his realization of what was happening was being reflected in her eyes as he gave her the order. They both knew what it meant. She didn't say anything else before she zipped away toward the barracks, but he stayed his course. As much as he wanted to stick with her, he knew that she would be fine on her own. The girl that's worth a thousand soldiers can protect herself. He didn't bother going through the door when he got to Hanji's office building, he simply smashed through the window that was positioned behind her desk, causing her to jump and even scream a little at his unorthodox entry.  
“Levi, what the fuck?” She asked, a look of horror on her face.  
“They're here Hanji! Marley is attacking!”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys! This is the last chapter! I'll have an epilogue after this, so stay tuned for that! Thanks so much to everyone that's read and enjoyed this (slightly depressing) fic!

“Eren!” Mikasa had landed on the ground floor, entered the building, and dashed up the three flights of stairs with her 3DM gear as fast as she could. She was calling his name before she even got close to his room, and he was waiting at the door before she got there. He looked tired, then concerned when he saw the fear on her face as she stopped in front of him. “Eren...they're here! They're attacking now! You need to come out and stall them so everyone can get ready. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yeah!” He answered quickly. He knew there was no time for his 3DM gear so he rushed out the door immediately. Halfway down the stairs they ran into Reiner, and he seemed to know the situation before they needed to explain.

“Gabi, Falco, go get your gear on!” He ordered and the two children immediately started at their task. They were still new to the gear, and slow putting it on, but Reiner almost hoped that they would be. If he and Eren could just stop the fight before it started Gabi and Falco wouldn't even have to take part. He followed Eren as quickly as he could, and they both burst through the door with Mikasa to see people parachuting from the sky. Most of them were bound and gagged, not a good sign. Reiner had seen it before. He looked around to find Zeke parachuting in tandem with Colt strapped to his chest and his eyes went wide.

“Eren, we need to shift now! All these people are going to turn into titans, Mitras will be over run!” He shouted and Eren nodded. Mikasa zipped away from them and they transformed as soon as she was had gone far enough. They heard a scream and all the people falling from the sky simultaneously turned into titans. All except for Zeke and Colt. Mikasa landed on Eren's shoulder then, watching as the titans crashed to the earth, watching where Zeke's parachute landed. There was another person falling farther back, closer to the administrative building where Hanji's office was and she knew Levi would be there.

“Eren, Reiner, keep these titans busy. Try to get rid of as many of them as possible. I'll help you until everyone else arrives.” They both nodded and Mikasa grappled to a building before Eren and Reiner both took off running for the area that was most congested with titans. Mikasa saw a smaller, five meter class titan on its own and went in for the kill, swiftly dispatching it and looking around for more. Eren and Reiner were doing fine on their own, so she decided to head toward the location she believed Levi to be. She found him, along with Hanji, hanging from the side of her building, observing the devastation that had already happened.

“I don't see the beast titan.” Levi said as soon as Mikasa stopped with the two of them.

“He hasn't shifted, I watched where he landed.” She said quickly.

“I didn't expect them to be able to attack this far within our walls.” Hanji said, looking back in the direction that the vehicle that brought them here had disappeared. “I wasn't prepared...”

“It's too late now, Hanji, we need to get moving!” Levi snapped. “The others should be almost ready. How many titans dropped within the wall Mikasa?”

“There were five. I've killed one already and Eren and Reiner were fighting two more when I left them.”

“Plus Zeke. He's here somewhere.” Levi said, his eyes darting around the ground as he spoke.

“Let's head to the fight, Mikasa you lead the way. Zeke will probably be with all the other titans. He'll still be after Eren, regardless of whether he wants him alive or not. We need to be there to help.” Hanji said. Mikasa nodded and shot a hook in the direction of the battle and Hanji and Levi followed closely behind her. The others had already made it to the battle, including Gabi and Falco, and Mikasa couldn't help but feel like they weren't ready for something this big. Usually cadets would have two years of 3DM training before they were sent into the field, Gabi and Falco had a week at most. They stuck close to Reiner, not on him but close enough to help if he needed it, and Eren had rampaged his way to the epicenter of the attack.

Reiner had just disposed of another titan, they were down to about three more, but Eren would probably make quick work of them. That's when he saw Zeke, leading Colt in front of him. Colt looked angry, his hands tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth, and Zeke just looked amused. Reiner looked at Falco to see that he was frozen in place at the sight of his brother that way.

“C-Colt...” Falco said, loud enough for Zeke to hear him and turn his attention upward to the roof where he stood.

“Hello there Falco, Gabi, nice to see you again.” Zeke's voice was sinister and he smirked as he spoke to them. It was only then that Reiner realized that Zeke was wearing 3DM gear on his waist. “I brought your brother along so that you could see him one last time, Falco. I know you probably don't care since you left him to die in Liberio. You all know what happens when someone leaves without permission. Steam shot from Reiner's titan as he roared his anger toward Zeke.

“Is that upsetting to you? You didn't think about the consequences of leaving and taking them with you. It's a shame that all of your families are being massacred right now, but you all know how it goes. If you'd like to see them again just look around. Reiner, I think the one fighting Eren right now is your mother.” Zeke chuckled as he moved to the roof of a building far enough away from Reiner that he couldn't be grabbed or squashed. He pushed Colt to his knees before reaching into his jacket and producing a small black box.

“No! Zeke you keep your hands off of him!” Falco shouted, but in the end he was frozen in fear. Absolutely terrified of what was happening. Gabi clenched her jaw beside him but she seemed to be frozen as well.

“Or what? What will you do to me, Falco? What can you possibly do? You were the weakest of the cadets. Perhaps that's why Reiner felt the need to save you. He knew you wouldn't be chosen to inherit his titan. Gabi was the better pick, but even she can't attack me. You're both worthless! Not worthy of being called warriors!”

“You'll never win, Zeke!” Gabi shouted at him, pointing a sword at him as she spoke, but that only made him laugh. He withdrew the syringe from the box, already filled with titan serum and plunged it into Colt's neck, draining the fluid and pushing him off of the roof.

“We'll see about that.” He bit his hand and transformed before their very eyes as Colt exploded forward. Reiner grabbed Falco and Gabi and pushed Colt's titan back before dashing in the opposite direction, putting as much space between them and the beast titan as possible. He knew he couldn't fight the beast on his own. Reiner was well aware of Zeke's abilities, and he was also well aware that he couldn't beat him, but he charged back in once his friends were safe anyway.

It was too late that he realized that Falco was heading straight for Colt's titan. He was going in for the kill, and Reiner knew he wasn't ready. He reached for Falco but he was too far away, and before he knew it Colt had snatched him out of the air. Reiner screamed and it came out in the form of a yell from his titan as Zeke grabbed him to keep him away. Falco screamed and reached for Reiner, but all he could do was watch as his friend was devoured.

“There it is!” Levi shouted as he heard the tell tale sound of a titan coming into existence. He looked over and watched as Falco was eaten by a smaller titan and Reiner was restrained by Zeke. He practically growled as he watched the scene unfold.

“Mikasa, Levi, take care of the beast titan!” Hanji ordered and they zipped off together toward their target. Mikasa was full of rage at seeing him, and the events that had just unfolded as they raced toward him. He was the one that had hurt Levi so badly while he was captive, and she would be the one to kill him. She looked around the battlefield, trying to get a grasp of what was happening everywhere else and saw Eren take down another titan, throwing his head back and roaring after. She thought it had been some kind of celebration, but when she looked closer she could see another titan attacking him. It looked familiar and she recognized it instantly as the cart titan. She thought she had killed that shifter in Marley, but she had been so caught up in the moment that she couldn't be sure. The titan had disappeared and the shifter had gone limp, but she hadn't been one hundred percent sure that she hit her mark. Eren seemed to have the upper hand, so she focused on the beast titan.

Levi looked over at her for an instant before setting his focus on the beast that had caused him so much pain. Zeke. The bastard that killed Erwin. The man that had tortured him and threatened to kill everyone he ever loved. He would pay, here and now. He felt rage and power growing inside him as he moved through the air with dexterity. Mikasa found it hard to keep up with him when he moved like that and fell slightly behind. Good, that's what he wanted. He wanted to make sure that she stayed out of danger, but he knew he couldn't tell her not to fight, she was too stubborn for that. The two of them attacked Zeke while he was still focused on Reiner, but he managed to harden the skin on his nape before either of them could get to it. He swatted at them like flies as they zipped around his head, and that's when she heard it, Eren's scream, but it was different this time.

She looked over to see that the cart titan had begun to best him. She had torn off an arm and was working on another. Mikasa's eyes grew wide as Eren struggled, trying desperately to shake her off. She saw two Scouts flying around the area and tried to focus on the task she was set to. Levi had broken a set of his blades already trying to get at Zeke, and hers were dull from the first titan she'd taken down. She ejected them and equipped new ones before she continued helping Levi.

Reiner had begun to try and help too, but every time he tried to get close he was pushed back. She knew he was afraid of Zeke, he probably knew every one of Reiner's weaknesses, and he didn't want to die by his hand. Reiner had taken to throwing chunks of debris at him while Levi quickly flew around his head. It was disorienting for Zeke, and she could tell he was getting tired. She looked at his nape to see that the hardened skin had all but disappeared and she saw her opening. She went in for the kill as fast as she could go, holding her blades the way Levi had taught her to better her slicing abilities. She set herself into a spiral and slashed at his skin, cutting in but not quite deep enough. He howled in pain and swatted at her, managing to snag a wire and send her off course. She crashed into the roof of a building and saw Levi glance at her but keep going when he realized she was okay. She looked over to Eren then and was not prepared for what she saw.

The cart titan had him on the ground now, his titan body was dissolving faster than she thought it should be and she knew he was in trouble. More panic hit her when she realized that he hadn't had enough time to equip his 3DM gear before he ran out the door. Her heart beat fast at what that could mean and she couldn't stop herself from moving toward him.

“Eren!” She yelled, grappling faster and faster in the direction she'd last seen him until she lost control and fell to the top of a nearby building. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched the cart titan pulling Eren from his titan's nape, she wanted to scream for help, to beg whoever was inside that titan to stop what they were doing, but she was somehow frozen in place.

“Oh! I've found you!” The titan spoke as she held Eren limp by his leg. Both of his arms were missing and blood leaked out of his ears. Mikasa couldn't tell if he was even still breathing, but she suddenly filled with rage as she watched the scene before her. “I've been so looking forward to this. You're the one that ate my Galliard, aren't you? I want to kill you slowly now, so that you can feel everything that I've been feeling since you tore him away from me.” The titan pulled lightly and removed a leg, tossing it to the side as blood poured from his wounds. Now she knew he was still alive because he was screaming.

“No...” Mikasa whispered to herself as she felt her power surging. Suddenly she wasn't in control anymore. Whatever was driving her now, it wasn't anything she'd ever felt before. The titan then laid Eren on the ground and began pressing a finger over his abdomen. It didn't take long for him to start choking and sputtering, she could almost hear the bones breaking inside of him, and Mikasa let out a scream that sounded almost animalistic. The cart titan turned her head to Mikasa then, and she saw the fear in her eyes as she dashed them out. The titan screamed and flailed about before Mikasa swung around and went in for the kill. She anchored herself to the titans back with her 3DM gear and this time made sure to make precise cuts. They were quick, and if this titan had the ability to harden its skin it wasn't given the time. Mikasa didn't leave the girl inside the titan when she struck, this time she pulled her out by the throat and stabbed her sword up through the girl's stomach.

Mikasa could tell that she still wasn't dead, so the pulled the girl's head up by her hair and hacked until it wasn't attached to her body any more.

“Try surviving that, bitch.” She said as she tossed the head aside and dashed over to where Eren was laying. It was bad, she could already tell. He'd lost too much blood from losing his limbs that his color had already begun to fade.

“Eren!” She shouted his name as she ran to him, falling to her knees at his side as he looked at her weakly. He struggled for breath, like he wanted to say something to her, but she knew he couldn't speak. “Don't try to talk, Eren, I'll help you. You'll be okay.” Mikasa held him in her lap, not knowing what to do. She began to panic before Hanji landed beside her. “H-Hanji...I...I don't know what to do. Help him! Please!”

 

 

 

Levi had heard Eren's shouts, but he couldn't leave the battle he was currently in. He had to get his revenge on Zeke, it was the only thing that mattered at the moment. Reiner was still there to help, but Mikasa had vanished, and in the back of his mind he knew where she went. He was on his last set of blades now. Zeke had been a tough opponent the first time, but now he knew what to expect from Levi. Reiner charged Zeke and Levi attempted to attack his nape again, but it was no use. He had placed his hand over his nape awaiting another attack from Levi, but once he struck and missed Zeke removed his hand to brace himself for Reiner's charge. Reiner had managed to take hold on Zeke's legs and Levi zipped back in for the kill while he was distracted trying to shake Reiner off. His cut hit home and he was able to expose Zeke to the world.

Zeke looked back to see Levi standing above him, swinging his sword down and hitting his body squarely between the shoulder blades. He was thankful that it had barely missed his heart, but Levi didn't stop there. He cut off both of Zeke's arms and pried him from his titan's body, throwing him to the ground. The height that he fell from cracked something in his back as he landed, but Levi gracefully dropped to his feet at his side. He could see Zeke trembling as he stepped toward him, scrambling backwards by kicking his legs frantically.

“You're a demon!” Zeke yelled, Levi had only cemented the fact that he was taught about the Eldians in Marley. Levi didn't say a word, he just walked over calmly and slit Zeke's throat, then stabbed him directly in the chest for good measure. He ejected his blades and Armin landed beside him then.

“Here, Heichou, take some of mine.” Armin said, handing Levi two new sets of blades. He nodded his thanks and equipped a set before making his way back to the rooftops. He couldn't see any more titans in the now demolished city of Mitras, just a multitude of smoking corpses. He only knew which direction to go once he heard screams. He recognized the voice and the pain in it as he jumped toward it without thinking.

He landed badly and rolled into a scene that he wished he didn't have to see. Mikasa was on the back of a dissolving titan corpse, slashing away with her blades at a body. He looked over to Hanji to see her holding a dismembered Eren in her arms. His breath caught in his throat as his mind caught up to his eyes and the sound suddenly rushed back to the world around him. All he could hear were Mikasa's screams. Hanji looked up at him with tears in her eyes and he knew that Eren was fading quickly. He could see the jerking breaths of a dying man as Hanji gripped his shoulders. He watched a few more moments before Eren's chest stopped moving and Hanji hung her head over his body. He climbed the corpse to get to Mikasa, but he didn't know how he would be able to comfort her.

Her blades were only stubs at the ends of the hilt, the rest of them had shattered or broken away with the force with which she was mutilating the former shifter's body. He walked to her slowly as she sunk to her knees, heavy sobs taking over the frantic screams that had been escaping her mouth a moment before. He dropped to his knees with her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away at first before she realized that it was him, and broke down completely in his arms. She was absolutely covered in blood, steam rising from her skin as she gasped for air between sobs, burying her face in his chest and gripping his cloak like it was the only thing tethering her to the earth. He couldn't say anything to her because what would he say? What could he say that would make this better?

“Mikasa...” He uttered her name in the softest tone he could muster, trying to sound soothing as he stroked her hair.

“I couldn't...save...him.” She gasped out the words between sobs, looking up at him with red puffy eyes. “I couldn't do anything.”

“Shh, it isn't your fault that this happened.” He said, holding her tightly to his chest as she broke into another fit of tears. “You did everything you could.”

Levi heard a scream from Armin as he arrived on the scene and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep back his own tears. Tears that he didn't even think he was capable of producing any more, because humanity's strongest didn't cry about fallen comrades, but this time he did. He tried to get Mikasa settled down, but he knew it was no use. She'd stopped crying so hard, but she was like a shell of herself as she pressed her scarf to her face, lying against Levi's chest. He picked her up and handed her over to Reiner, telling him to take her to the hospital to make sure she wasn't injured before he made his way back to Hanji.

Armin wasn't in much better shape. He was sitting on the ground hugging his knees to his chest as he gently rocked back and forth. Levi saw Sasha going to comfort him and decided the best thing for him to do was make his way to Hanji. He observed the pool of blood that she was sitting in before he saw Eren. His Emerald eyes has faded to more of a forest green as they stared blankly at the sky, blood dribbling from his mouth as Hanji held him in a pool of crimson. He swallowed hard as he looked on, wishing that he could have been there to help him.

“Hanji.” He said softly, but it didn't earn a response. He saw her tremble and her shoulders heave as he took a step closer, kneeling down to her level. “Hanji.”

She looked up at him the second time he said her name, tears streaming down her face as she gripped Eren's lifeless body in her arms. She felt responsible and he knew it, but he was also sure that there was probably nothing she could have done to help him.

“Levi...I...she begged me to save him but...I just...” She struggled with words as she looked down at him, her hand shaking as she closed his eyelids.

“Let me take him.” Levi said softly. He knew she wouldn't be able to do it, and he didn't want to see Eren lying in the street like that anymore. It wasn't fitting for him. He looked unnatural and out of place, too still, too quiet. Hanji nodded and she helped to put Eren's body onto Levi's back. It was harder to fly like that, but he had to do it, not only for Mikasa and Hanji, but for himself. He went straight to the hospital, the only place he knew to take him, and let the nurses and doctor's take him away. People stared at him as he stood in the lobby of the cold, sterile building, wondering what he was supposed to do next.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Reiner standing beside him. He looked cold and stoic, as always, but the gesture somehow made Levi feel a little less empty.

“They took her to a room,” Reiner said without missing a beat. “408 I think.”

“Thanks.” It was all he could muster, but Reiner understood. He patted his shoulder once more before he left and Levi started making his way to Mikasa's room. He wanted to feel angry, to have someone to take out his frustrations on, but they'd already done away with their enemies. The attackers had been killed, but at what cost? He entered the room and dropped his maneuvering gear to the floor, leaving the belts in place, before he sat on the side of the bed that Mikasa laid in. She was curled into the fetal position, still hugging her red scarf to her face.

“Why...did this happen...?” She almost whispered as he smoothed back her hair.

“I wish I had an answer for that...” He sounded sad, sadder than she'd ever heard him before. They were both a mess.

“When I found him...he tried to say something. I don't know what he wanted to say, he couldn't speak. That monster crushed his neck...” She broke off into tears, shaking as her grief racked through her body. “What did he want to tell me?”

“That he loved you.” Levi said with a sad sigh. “If I had to guess.” It didn't seem to help her, but he hoped that it brought her some kind of closure. He was almost certain that he'd guessed correctly, he'd known Eren well enough to know what his last words to her would have been. He laid down behind her, wrapping his arms around her shivering body and not caring if they were both dirty or if anyone walked in to see. They needed each other in that moment, and he knew that she would need him a lot longer than that. It took hours before she exhausted herself completely and passed out in his arms, but he knew that there would be many more nights like this, because her nightmares would always be about the day that humanity won the war, and the day that she lost Eren Yeager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be too depressed yet! There's still an epilogue and I promise something happy will happen!


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's sappy, it's fluffy, it's short, but most of all it's happy! I think I even depressed myself with the last chapter I wrote, but this one is much happier! I hope you guys have all enjoyed the story and I hope you'll be happy with the ending. It's a little cliche, but I couldn't help myself. Haha! Thank you all so much for reading! I'll probably do some one-shots based off of the characters in this story and following up with some of them, so stay tuned for those!

The war had ended four months ago, but Mikasa's grief lasted much longer than that. She was doing better with Levi by her side to help her, but she still had moments where she was inconsolable, and he knew that she needed to be alone in those moments. They were getting by, though. Reiner had asked them to take care of Gabi for him and he left Paradis. He didn't say where he was going, but the pain of losing Falco in battle didn't allow him to stay there. Gabi agreed to stay, although reluctantly, she was worried about him, the same as the rest of them were. In the back of his mind, Levi remembered how Reiner had been suicidal before and wondered if that was the real reason he'd left. But Gabi seemed to like Mikasa and they quickly bonded in a way that Levi could only describe as mother and daughter. It was strange to him, that they'd somehow started a family together, but it felt right to do it with her.

They'd moved to a small house in the country because Mikasa couldn't take walking past the spot where Eren died every day of her life. He didn't mind, though, in fact he rather enjoyed the fresh air and calmness all the way out there. They kept themselves busy with little things. Since the war ended and their enemy was annihilated they didn't have a reason for the Survey Corps anymore, so it was disbanded. There had been expeditions beyond the walls in the first two months after the war ended in order to clear out all the remaining titans, and then the walls came down, and they were all free. Levi could still remember the day they demolished them as if it were yesterday. Somehow the air felt a little fresher as the dust and debris cleared. Mikasa had smiled, but he'd known that she wasn't truly happy then.

He wondered if she would ever be able to be truly happy ever again, if the pain of losing Eren had permanently chipped away a part of her heart so that it could never be full. Sometimes it seemed that way, but other times, when she was with him and Gabi and they were acting like a real family, she seemed blissfully happy. He loved those moments. She was happy when Armin came to visit too, but even he reminded her of Eren, and he still had the ticking time bomb of the curse of Ymir inside him. Knowing that she would eventually lose him too was something that she didn't like to think about, so she didn't. She just carried on as if Armin would be there forever, and everyone let her because if they didn't they weren't sure what would happen.

Hanji stayed away most of the time. The amount of guilt she bore from Eren's death was immense, and she felt that Mikasa could never forgive her for it, no matter how many times Levi told her that it wasn't the case. She'd just shake her head and smile and say some bullshit like “I want to give her time,” or “the two of you don't need me moping around your beautiful family”. Levi hated it, especially since he regarded Hanji as his best friend, his _only_ friend, left alive. He settled for going into the city to visit her instead, but Mikasa would never come with him.

Regardless of all that, they lived a relatively happy life. Mikasa was cheerful most of the time and Levi tried to be less of a sarcastic ass in the months after the war, although she berated him for it.

“Your sarcasm is what makes me like you.” She'd said one day after he'd tried obviously hard to be nice to her. “Why would I stay here with you if that personality trait disappears?” It had been a joke, but he'd taken it seriously. If there was one thing he wanted it was her. He didn't know what else he could possibly do with his life if she wasn't in it. She and Gabi had given him a purpose after the war, and he didn't want to see that ripped away. Deep down he knew she would never leave him, though, because the pain of loneliness and having no one was just as terrifying to her as it was to him.

Sasha and Conny had gotten married not long after the war was over and they lived relatively close by. They'd just had their first child and Gabi was thrilled to have a baby to fawn over. She spent more time with them than she did with Mikasa and Levi, but that was okay. They needed time alone as much as they needed time with her. They were both broken, but the semblance of a family that they had together and all they'd been through brought them together and made them feel like, maybe, they could live some kind of normal life now. It was what they'd wanted from the time they'd both joined the Corps, after all.

Mikasa had taken up gardening, she said it reminded her of things she used to do with her mother, and she'd been in the garden all day when Levi went out to check on her. He liked watching her work there, the deftness of her hands as she pulled at the weeds and the smile that would slowly spread across her face when she found whatever vegetable she was growing as it flourished made him feel like she was happy in the moment. He walked over, hands shoved into his pockets and watched her until she looked up.

“Did you need something?” She asked, returning her eyes to her work but still listening.

“No, I just like to watch you.” He said with the soft tone that he'd adopted during their newly found time of peace.

“What a creep.” She smiled, getting up and dusting herself off as she walked over to him. Her hands were dirty and he caught them before she could touch his face.

“Disgusting.” He said with a scowl. She pulled her hand away and kissed him on the cheek before pushing past him.

“Is Gabi with Sasha and Conny again?” She asked as he followed her into the small log cabin that they'd built themselves.

“She spends more time there than she does with us.” He said as he closed the front door behind them.

“I think Sasha might be happy for the help. I'd imagine having a baby is hard work. You know how Gabi always comes home talking about how she helped so much while she was there.”

“I'm glad we skipped the baby stage and just went straight for pre-teen.” He said somewhat sarcastically.

“I don't know,” Mikasa said lazily as she washed her hands and poured herself a cup of tea. “you've been a good father to Gabi, what makes you so sure you couldn't handle a baby?” She had a mischievous look in her eye that he brushed off as sarcasm.

“They're disgusting. Always vomiting on things and screaming...” He rolled his eyes at the thought and her expression faltered. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing I just...I've been thinking that it might be nice, to have a child of our own. Gabi is a joy and I love that she looks at me like a mother but, having a child was something that I wanted before the titans attacked Shiganshina.” She looked down at her body, placing a hand over her stomach before looking back at him. “Plus it's a little late now.”

“What are you talking about?” The look of pure shock on his face made her laugh out loud, but he already knew the answer by the look in her eyes. He'd mistaken it for something else before, but he recognized the look now as joy.

“I mean you're going to be a father whether you like it or not.” She said with somewhat of a stern tone. He looked her up and down before moving slowly toward her and placing his hand over hers. She smiled at him sweetly and he knew that now, with the news of their new addition and everything they'd built here together, Mikasa could finally be _truly_ happy, and that's all he had ever wanted for her.


End file.
